


Roommate Romance

by Duke157



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: AU to epilogue, Character Death, Drama, Drama & Romance, F/F, F/M, Flashbacks, Post-War, Romance, Roommates, Sassy Hermione, Sex in later chapters, drunk
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-07
Updated: 2017-11-22
Packaged: 2019-01-30 17:04:25
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 16
Words: 28,135
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12657756
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Duke157/pseuds/Duke157
Summary: Hermione never pictured herself to be in this spot, neither did Draco. But here they are. Will they put aside their differences and get it together, or did Harry just start the next Wizarding War. AU to Epilogue. Three years post war.





	1. Her Story

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of Queen JK's characters. I only own the plot for my story and my OC.

_Boring._

I changed the channel once again. They were always playing the same old reruns of reality shows on MTV.

_That's what they usually do at 11:30 in the night, my brain rationalised._

"Shut up."

Great, now I'm going mental.

I flipped the channel back to F.R.I.E.N.D.S. season 2 reruns. My life is fucking boring.

Didn't see that coming, did you? Yes, I swear and yes, I complain about regular TV shows like the rest of the world. Contrary to what you may believe, I'm not the prude you lot make me up to be. I don't read 24/7 even though I do own a bookstore a few streets away. I also have quite the dirty mouth to be completely honest. And I do go out on dates, the bar on Saturday nights and I even have one night stands.

Sorry to burst your little bubble there, but it's become really taxing lately. Three years since the war and I still get a room full of stares from the wizarding community whenever I let out an occasional F-word in public. I wonder what they would think if they see me at home.

The stares are one of the reasons I moved to muggle London. Of course the aftereffect of the war and some other stuff were the main reasons but this was up there as well. Let's not dwell on the past.

After the war I wanted to get back to muggle roots. When I tried to contact my parents in Australia, I found out that they had died in a car accident. And not the kind that Harry thought his parents were in before he got his Hogwarts letter. No, this was a genuine car accident. A drunken driver jumps a red light and crashed into their car. Nobody survived. I visit their graves in Australia from time to time.

I got depressed for weeks after that. My parents were the only part of the Granger family that I actually cared about. I really owe my rehabilitation to Weasleys, Molly and George in particular. Slowly, I gathered back my will to live and started moving on with life. As a consolation for all that I've been through, I decided to realise my childhood dream of owning a bookstore. I could have just gone for a ministry job like everyone expected me to, but my petition for S.P.E.W. had already been considered, billed and put into implementation when Kingsley started his term as Minister of Magic. Apparently, his views matched mine on the subject. Now it is part of a huge 5 year scheme of post war restoration and improvement of general society laws and finance. I don't bother myself too much with the details, I just glance over the House-elf aspect of it from time to time.

You might be wondering what happened to Ron in all this, seeing as we got together and kissed so passionately during the war. We tried to make it work for a few weeks before it became a little too much like incest for me. After that I decided to end it and wanted to ask him out for dinner one night, but he beat me to the punch. We spent the whole night relating on how it felt like we were more like siblings and how the kiss during the battle was because we were tired and needed someone to hold us. By the end of the night, we were back to the best friend relationship we had when we were younger. I even got him a date with our waitress that Friday. The night couldn't have gone better.

Though convincing Molly and Ginny the next morning was a completely different game altogether. The two of them were already talking baby names. The idea of mine and Ron's babies creeped me out. They tried fruitlessly for another few weeks, disrupting our separate dates and calling Ron to girls nights, before they finally gave up. Though I'd be lying if I said it didn't affect us much. I'm pretty sure that if Ron ever set foot back in that restaurant, the waitress would serve him spoiled food.

Ron is currently touring with the Chudley Canons in Asia. He isn't the best player on the team, but according to Harry, he is better than any other Keeper they've had in the recent past. They aren't at the bottom of the table anymore. I receive a post card every few months with a few pictures of his latest conquests at romance. I'd say it all worked out for the best. I could never handle all that fame, I'm running from it already.

Harry became an Auror like he wanted to since he first found out about the profession. The Ministry jumped at the chance to grab him, being the only one of the Golden Trio who was open to a Ministry job. They gave him 6 months of intense training, just so he could learn the protocols, before assigning him as a protégé to one of the senior Aurors. He quickly moved up the ranks and became head of his team. It wasn't a surprise at all, quite contrarily, it was expected of him. The only thing that surprised me was that he wasn't tired of it all. According to Ginny he got off on it, putting his life on the line for the world. It made him feel… needed. Though Ginny explained that in much greater detail than I wanted to hear.

Harry and Ginny are still together, Ginny managing his publicity by taking over the Daily Prophet along with the Patil Twins. She manages the fashion and entertainment division, which also includes gossip about everyone. I had to convince her to exclude me from that page. It took a lot of convincing but eventually she agreed, but only under the condition that she will be one of the first to know of any gossip from my side.

_*PING*_

I got up from my spot on the couch to get the Lasagna out of the oven. I shoved one of those frozen Lasagnas in the oven about half an hour ago before cracking open a chilled beer bottle from my fridge. God knows I desperately need a drink now, no matter how much I'm trying to cut back on it. I had a pretty rough day at the store. My part-timer, Rebecca, deciding it was a good time to quit just a few hours before the new stock of books finally arrived. Sure, she had a good reason that she was moving to college today, but then I had to spend the whole evening alone in the store, stacking books. At only 5'4, I wasn't tall enough to reach the top shelf and place books on it without a ladder. And I had this stupid moral policy not to use magic while working at the store. So I spent my Friday evening sober and alone in my closed bookstore until 10pm, standing on my tiptoes trying to reach the top shelf while balancing myself on a small two step ladder. By the time I reached home, my stomach was the only thing preventing me from crashing on my bed and passing out.

I walked back with my plate of Lasagna, getting ready to demolish the tasty Italian treat.

_*DING-DONG*_

"Now what?"

I scowled at the interruption to the meal I've been waiting for quite a while. I had half a mind to just forget about it and let the arse think I was asleep.

"Hermione, I know you're awake. I can hear F.R.I.E.N.D.S. playing on the TV."

Harry. I groaned. Great, now I have to go open the door.

"Please just open the door. I really need your help." I could hear his pleas even though I wanted to pretend that I didn't. Though, if he needed help, it would probably be something important. I put my plate of Lasagna aside, drowned some more beer and made my way to the door. I didn't care about what I was wearing. I was in a sleeveless white nightshirt and some oversized grayish purple slacks. My hair looked like my old dead cat Crookshanks had rolled around in it for a few days. I had no makeup on, not that I usually wear a lot, but I always had some basic stuff. It was only Harry, I reasoned. We had spent a lot of time around each other in less while searching for horcruxes.

I walked over and opened the door to a tired looking Harry with someone leaning on his shoulder. The guy reeked of alcohol. He was taller than Harry, I observed, as he was really bending his neck over to rest his head on Harry's shoulder. He was covered in a black sweatshirt, with a hood that covered his blonde hair. The sweatshirt was left unzipped to show that he was wearing a pale blue t-shirt underneath that clinged tightly to his chiselled body. I lingered on his abs for a few seconds before noticing his tight arse through his equally tight jeans. I licked my lips unconsciously as my mind imagined the different scenarios of what might happen if I bit his delicious arse.

"Uhh… Hermione, first help me out here, I'm pretty sure you won't want to ogle him as much when you look at his face."

I broke away from my traitorous thoughts and walked over to help Harry get him inside before I interrogate my best friend.

"I wasn't ogling hi- _iimm…_ " That plan quickly dropped to the underworld as I saw the guy's sleeping face. I dropped him back on Harry and jumped back.

" _MALFOY"_


	2. His Story

Things were definitely not supposed to happen this way. I shouldn't be here, in this predicament and this shouldn't be happening to me anymore. Let us recap on how we got here, shall we?

When the war ended, I was finally happy to be free from that evil bastard's tyranny and all the stupid mistakes my father had done while following him. Now I didn't have to fear for my mother's or my own life every 10 minutes. Of course, the ministry was sceptical of letting us go scot-free, we did participate on the wrong side of the war, and we didn't get away either. But neither of our punishments are severe enough to disturb our relief at our freedom. Lucius, as I now call him, didn't get away with the same leniency. An Azkaban sentence for life, from which he was caught trying to escape, an act which ultimately just got him the Dementor's kiss he deserved in the first place.

The public didn't particularly take our pardon nicely, no matter how much the She-Weasley tried to sort it out by using the Daily Prophet. People still glared at us angrily as we walked around Diagon Alley for Ministry work that week. I wondered what is wrong with them though, we were pardoned with the reasons specified that there is no evidence of us actually committing a crime. The officials scanned both of our wands at least 20 times, using every possible spell known to them, before they finally gave up and agreed, albeit reluctantly, that we hadn't done anything to support Voldy in past 15 years or so. Nevertheless, the Ministry had to show something on us, so they seized the Manor, 90% of the Malfoy wealth from Gringotts, and all of our companies. That was my punishment, as I inherited the stuff from Lucius. Mother was put on house arrest for a year in whatever house we move into after this. They found that she had tortured and killed 1 person some 20 years ago when she first joined the Death Eaters. Some muggle teenager who was unlucky enough to walk up to the Manor when mother was home. Voldy had asked to bring a dead muggle body when she next came to one of their meetings and she had decided that this was a good opportunity for her first and last kill. She explained to me that she was stupid and she believed in that shit until her first kill, when she realised that it was all just crap that he fed us.

I was honestly relieved. I didn't really care for the Manor or the money, not anymore. The ministry could go partying in Malfoy gold for all I care.

My mother and I decided that we wanted to get away from it all, but unfortunately, her house arrest meant that we couldn't leave London. So we moved into a small 2 bedroom apartment in Muggle London. The ministry gave a month's support period where I was allowed to find myself a job, either in Wizarding or Muggle London. With all those glares and a possibility for death threats, you don't even have to guess what I chose. During this time they would pay for my rent, basic food and house supplies and study material.

I spent the month trying out different jobs that paid enough and I could find within my fancy but at first I was turning up empty handed. I realised that most muggle jobs required a lot of study in the field before actually getting that job, and I was baffled by math at the time. Every single job needed math and I didn't have the time to find out that it wasn't that different from Arithmancy. So I started searching for jobs that existed in both worlds. Then it struck me, we had to eat in both worlds and I was good at potions, so I decided to become a chef. By the end of the month, I was good at making certain foods that would fit into a café menu. I bought a small building and my café was already being constructed in the neighbourhood. It was hard at first but I pulled through, now I was pretty popular in this part of London and I earned enough to support us both, not that it was necessary because mother earned just as much, if not more than I did.

For the first few months after her house arrest, mother tried to learn how to do her chores. Washing the dishes, cleaning the house, taking out laundry and even helping me out in the kitchen. But after her first few explosive dishes, I kicked her out. We couldn't afford so many repairs.

It felt weird saying that… A Malfoy can't afford something.

Anyways, she got better at cleaning the house and the laundry. I never let her buy any red socks though. She threw a tantrum when I didn't let her buy a cheap pair of red socks which she saw in one of those clothing pamphlets we got through the mail. I had to give up one of my good white shirts to the land of pink, so I could calm her down.

Eventually, she got bored as she couldn't clean the house too many times in a day. She got of the television as well. So I gave her a notebook and asked her to write something down, maybe like a journal of sorts. I found the book a few weeks later and it was almost completely filled… with a lesbian erotic story. That was apparently a day for ground-breaking revelations. My mother told me that she actually swung the other way. I fainted on spot.

When I woke up a few hours later, she carefully explained that she knew she was a lesbian from when she was 12. But with scary parents and all the pressure from the pureblood community, she gave into her their demands that she marry Lucius. In fact, nobody knew of her preference, not even Lucius. She just gave him and her parents the impression that she was a prude and she only married for the money and the fame. Lucius apparently bought that and they spent one night in the sack, where she cast spells to drastically increase her chances of conception. The bastard never cared for her and only wanted an heir, so he was happy. She spent the rest of her life bringing me up and staring at other pureblood women at the meetings. I had to stop her there because she began ranting on about Pansy's arse and how it would be softer than her mom's. I almost fainted again before mother realised she had to stop.

I decided to set aside the awkwardness with her change of preference. She had been suppressing it her whole life and I just wanted her to make herself happy. So I accepted her, but not before laying down some rules. First, rule was that all her fantasies go down in her book and are not to be spoken out loud when I'm in the room. Second, as an extension of the first, I must never come across these fantasy books of hers. Lastly, after her house arrest is over, she can bring girls home for the night, but I don't want any awkward conversations with the girls in the morning. She agreed to those rules.

Now she is a popular lesbian romance erotica writer under the name  _Jenna Carter_  for Harper Collins with 2 published books and a third on the way. I never saw those notebooks or read the published books.

She has been dating a girl called Laurie for the 8 months. How she met the girl is kind of a funny story, now that I look back on it. Laurie has been working as a part timer at my café for the past 10 months. She is a muggleborn witch who is just as young as I am and she is in muggle college studying muggle computer engineering. She was born in London, but her parents moved to Berlin when she was young so she completed her magic schooling at Durmstrang. When she first joined, mother used to come over to our café to try and pick up chicks. Honestly, she gets much more pussy than I do, and the fact kills me inside. But the real kick to the old family jewels was Laurie. After she started working at our place, I noticed that she kept talking about me and my family a lot. I thought she was interested in me because girls can't keep away from me, even if my mother is more attractive to them. I'm still good at what I do, my mother is just… better.

Back to Laurie, I thought she was genuinely interested in me, and she wasn't that bad either. I wasn't in love with her, but she was attractive. And my mother kept asking about her as well. I guess I should have taken that as a sign, but I was an oblivious idiot. One day, Laurie approached me after closing time, blushing from head to toe. I thought that was the day.

* * *

" _Mr. Malfoy," I heard Laurie's voice calling me from behind as I turned the key to lock the café._

" _Yes Laurie?"_

" _You see… I uhhh… for… for the p-past 2 months… I've… I've had this a-attraction and now I can't hold it b-back a-anymore…"_

_She was shuffling her feet, with her eyes firmly pointed at her toes and a deep red blush completely taking over her pale face, matching her fiery red hair. If I didn't know better, I would call her a Weasley, but she didn't have freckles, so that's out the window._

_I decided to make her work easier, but if I knew what was coming, I would have kept my big mouth shut._

" _I like your mom."_

" _I think we can date…"_

* * *

After the initial shock, we spent a while sorting out the fact that she wanted my mother and I wasn't really that interested in her. We had a good laugh once we stopped blushing from the embarrassment. After making a pact that we wouldn't tell anyone other than mother, I wanted to stop that too, but Laurie convinced me that we couldn't avoid telling her, I told her that what happens between her and my mother was between them, I didn't care much so long as they followed the rules I set down. They met up the next day and got together. Mother had a field day teasing me for the misunderstanding.

Not much happened after that, until a few days ago. I had gone out to get stuff for a new flavour of cheesecake I was trying to make for the café. Laurie had her class, so mother was alone at home.

I was walking back up the stairs to our apartment on the second floor, when I heard mother's voice. It seemed that the neighbours were out of town, so I dropped the bags and ran up to find our door wide. I burst open just in time to see a green light flash from her room. My blood went cold as my brain shuffled around the worst case scenarios. The sound of footsteps broke my reverie as I powered through the door with my wand ready. What I saw nearly made me faint again, but I steeled my nerves and cast an  _Expelliarmus_  and  _Stupefy_  at the man standing in front of my mother's lifeless body. Tears filled my eyes and rage took over me as I cast a bunch of more hexes at the intruder before finally wrapping him in a full-body bind curse. Somehow, I controlled myself not to kill him, maybe it was the unconscious recognition of protocol or maybe I just wanted to torture him more. I'm betting on the latter.

After a few minutes, I decided to find out who was my mother's murderer, who hated her enough to kill her. I rolled over the bound and unconscious body.  _Dolohov…_

I hate this… I blame Lucius for this mess. She just wanted to be rid of the bastard, but no, he and his mad group of pureblooded arseholes followed her around everywhere, and now she paid for it with her life. I wanted to see them all tortured before they are killed. I wanted to see them rot in the deepest corners of Azkaban for years before a Dementor gobbles up their soul. And to do that, I had to get this guy arrested. So I contacted the first Auror I could think of, Potter.

The rest of it was a blur, and it still is. I was put under witness protection. Laurie's no better, she's barely a shell of what she was last Tuesday. And I'm here, in a bar, running away from that suffocating witness protection home, close to passing out as I ponder on what happened to me until now as I was conversing with a random blonde bimbo I ran into.

"Ummm… about that, you were actually talking out loud." The blonde in front of me spoke out.

"That's embarrassing…" I passed out.

* * *

I started to stir as I heard two voices doing what seemed like arguing. It was hurting my head. I seemed to be leaning against someone.

"Uhh… out here… won't… ogle him… when… at his face." Was all I could make out of it.

Suddenly I felt another pair of arms hold me. They were small and soft.

"… ogling…"

The hands left me and I fell back on the first person.

" _MALFOY"_


	3. The Favor

" _MALFOY"_

I cannot believe that the ferret is at my doorstep. More importantly, I cannot believe that I called his arse delicious. That is absolutely unforgivable. I must be crazy,  _CRAZY_  I tell you. Such thoughts must never ever be thought by me, ever. That is a crime against nature itself. I turned my face away in disgust.

_To be fair, he is extremely good look-._

SHUT THE FUCK UP BRAIN!

"Hermione, please… Help me get him inside. I can't hold him for much longer. I'm not exactly the strongest of people, and neither is he the lightest." I turned back to find Harry with his pleading face on. Curse the bastard! He knows I cannot refuse his pleading face. I felt my resolve crumble.

"Harry, why did you bring  _him_  here?" I stared warily at the two of them.

"Please, just let me put him down on the couch and I'll explain everything, I promise. Just let us in. I can't hold him for much longer."

He brought out the  _face_  again. We both knew I wouldn't be able to resist it for much longer. He usually acted like the older brother in our sibling-like relationship, overprotective and caring, but it was at times like this that I am reminded that he is actually the younger one, if only by a few months. I considered just walking back inside and slamming the door shut, but one more look at his face sealed the deal. I grabbed ferret-boy… man's arm once again and led the two of them to my couch and turned off my TV.

"We got him inside and off your shoulders, now spill. What is the bigoted arse doing here on my couch at midnight?" I took a sip of my beer. My nose turned its attention to the Lasagna on the coffee table. Instantly my mouth watered and I started to regret my decision to let them in.

"Hermione, I need you to do me a favour."

Yep, definitely regretting my decision now. I stared back at him expectantly.

"I know what I'm about to ask you is pretty big, but I need you to let him stay with you for a while."

"WHAT?" I can barely believe Harry is asking me to do this. He wants me to keep…  _him…_ with me… at my home… living with me…

"Hermione please. I know I'm asking a lot from you but you're the only one I can turn to for this. We've tried other places but they didn't work out."

Even though I'm freaking out inside, I don't let it show, a skill I picked up after the depression from my parents death. Over the years, I've gotten pretty good at hiding my emotions in front of others whenever necessary.

"Harry, what makes you think this will work out? We hate each other."

"He's tolerable now, friendly even, I promise. I had a chat with the lad. He turned over a new leaf after the wa-"

"But I hate him anyways. It wasn't just his allegiance that made me hate him, Harry. His personality is just as bad. I don't care how much he's changed, old habits die hard and the two of us made a pretty strong habit of hating each other. I'm sorry Harry, I just cannot agree to this." And I won't even give in to the face this time. I am a person who is smart enough to learn from my past mistakes. "Besides, where in Merlin's arse is this even coming from? Why are you even asking me to do this?"

"A few days ago, his face appeared from my fireplace while I was working on some papers, sometime in the evening. He said he had captured Dolohov and wanted me to come detain and arrest him. I rushed over immediately and found him with is wand pointed at a stunned Dolohov under a full-body bind curse. Apparently, he was returning from the supermarket that evening, he walked back into his house to find that Dolohov had killed Narcissa. In a fit of rage, he let out a few spells and hexes at his mother's murderer, left him with boils all over his body and his face vomiting eels. Lucky for us, he kept himself sane enough not to kill him, and inform us instead." Harry reached over and grabbed a can of beer lying around. Meanwhile, I considered Malfoy's story. Somewhere deep inside, I couldn't help but feel sympathetic for the guy. Harry caught on to this wave of sympathy, and I instantly regret my emotion. I've slipped up very few times in my life, but I know for sure that I'll regret this time the most.

"See, you sympathise with him." Harry's smile widened, that did not bode well for me.

"Many people have lost their parents before. We fought a war three years ago, do you remember? Or have you forgotten that?"

"Yes, but not many people of the wizarding community have lost their family members after the war, a time when everybody thought their loved ones were safe and sound. And there are even fewer who I can trust enough to keep a murder witness safe." Malfoy scrunched his face and rolled his head, as if he was stirring, and we did  _not_  want to wake him up. Harry leaned in closer to me and spoke in a softer voice. "We have tried putting him in the witness protection facility. He ran away from us today afternoon, fooled the security personnel so well that three hours had passed before they realised he was missing. We spent nearly four hours after that looking for him before I finally found him passed out on the couch of a muggle nightclub halfway across London. By then he had narrated his whole post-war life story to bunch of muggles who now know about us and magic. The rest of my Auror team is currently out there finding and obliviating them."

I looked back and forth between Harry and Malfoy, both irritated and amused at the course of their day.

"Meanwhile, we searched Dolohov's memories and found many leads to the remaining of the Death Eaters. Starting tomorrow, all of our teams get deployed to go capture them. Including the main witness protection team. But we need some place to keep him safe, at least until Dolohov's trial. He is an extremely important witness to Narcissa's murder, and I need someone who can keep him safe, understands his pain, doesn't have as much work and has a free room to keep him." He turned his head and glanced at the bedroom next to my own.

"I have my bookstore." I made a last-ditch effort to get out of this, though I knew it was in vain.

"You hired Rebecca to work for you. She can manage stuff."

"Who quit on me today."

"Good, then he can take her place and help out when you have to go to the store." See, I was right.

"Ughh…"

"Hermione, please…" He chose the perfect time to bring the face out again. I took one last glance at the two of them before finally giving in.

"Fine… I'll take Mr. Pompous git, but only on my rules."

"Sure, just let him know what happened when he wakes up. I'm sure he'll agree." Harry smiled from ear to ear.

"I highly doubt that." I frowned.

"I must really be off now. I have to check on my team and then head home. Ginny will be worried, I promised I'd call her as soon as I reached home. Bye, and thank you once again Hermione. I definitely owe you a big one." He walked to get Floo powder from the cabinet.

"That you do." I waved goodbye as he disappeared behind the green flames.

I turned back to stare at the drunk Malfoy on my couch. I decided to leave him there and deal with him in the morning. Right now, all I needed was a good night's rest…

_*GROWL*_

And some food.

I took the cold Lasagna, shoved it into the microwave and set the timer for 2 minutes. After it was done, I took it and decided to eat in my room. What I didn't notice was the blonde head that slumped down next to my shoulder. I whipped around as soon as I felt him behind me, just barely remembering to put down the bowl before I did so.

"Malfoy, what the fuck are you doing?"

"Granger" He still seemed to be asleep, or at least drunk, because his eyes were closed and his shoulders were slumped as if he was completely tired and just ready to pass out. He was still able to identify me, surprisingly.

I backed up against the counter as he advanced towards me with his sleepy steps. He stopped right in front of me as I placed my hand on his chest. Wrong move. I almost lost concentration while my hand touched his chest. Why was I feeling this way? I gathered up my wandering thoughts and tried to get him off me. Why didn't I have my wand with me at these times?

"Malfoy, w-what are y-you d-doing?" Well, that plan went right down to the dumps. And it sure didn't help, when Malfoy leaned over and kissed me full on the lips. I felt myself surrendering to the feeling, the shock leaving my mouth wide open for him to slip his tongue. He was sloppy, like he was still drunk, but somehow it felt good. But it shouldn't, and it took me a few seconds to come to that realisation, and a few more before I could push him off.

I seemed to have pushed him with a little more force than necessary as he went crashing, his drunken reflexes not helping him one bit as his head hit the side of the couch and his unconscious body hit the floor. I stared at him for a few dumbstruck seconds before I grabbed my bowl of Lasagna and sprinted around the far side couch to my room and slammed the door shut, locking it from the inside with a few wards.


	4. The Next Morning

_I stared at him for a few dumbstruck seconds before I grabbed my bowl of Lasagna and sprinted around the far side couch to my room and slammed the door shut, locking it from the inside with a few wards._

_6:07 AM,_ my clock read as I woke up to the golden rays of the rising sun. My room had a pretty big window that provided me a great view of the sunrise every morning. Today seemed like a great day, it was sunny with a few scarce clouds, the weather report had predicted the same weather for this entire week. My new books had arrived and are stocked in, which means I could finally call Mrs. Smith and tell her she can collect the book she ordered. That would certainly be a great relief. And I can do that once I open the store, but for that I'll have to get out of my house, and that meant I would have to leave that… that… FERRET… alone in my home, and I will  _never_  do that.

Another option would be to kick him out, but that meant I had to go into the other room, and I'd have to see him, and then I'd be reminded of last night and what he... he…

So that option went straight down the rabbit-hole.

The last option would be to sit it out in here, and currently it seems to be the way to go.

_But today is such a great day, it's beautiful outside._

"I know." I whined, simultaneously conscious that I was thinking out loud to myself again.

_Yeah, that sight in the living room is just beauti-_

"SHUT UP BRAIN!"

I couldn't believe my thoughts were so traitorous that they'd defy me and my principles to this extent. Ever since  _he_ and Harry had stumbled into my apart-

_*CRASH*_

"Fuck, he's awake." I exclaim softly. My scream from earlier must have woken him up from his slumber. I knew that I'd have to walk out and talk to him about his moving in with me soon. The only thing worse than that would be to let him think he can actually go around crashing my utensils all around.

"WHERE THE FUCK IS THE COFFEE MACHINE?" I didn't have one. Usually I got my caffeine burst from the coffee shop down the street and I had hangover potions in case I ever got excessively drunk. But more importantly, why did Malfoy ask for a coffee machine? Did he assume he just got drunk and slept with some muggle chick? And if he's asking for one, didn't that mean he knew how to operate one? Why does he know how to operate one? Did he sleep with muggle women often?

Before I let myself become a slave to my curiosity and come up with enough questions to write a quiz book on the topic, I settled on the fact that I couldn't satisfy any of it unless I walked out and confronted the git. Grabbing a vial of hangover potion from the drawer next to my bed and my wand from my study desk, I took a deep breath before I opened the door to the living room.

He stood by the kitchen counter, with his left hand clutching back of his head, presumably where his head hit the couch last night, and a bottle of water in the other. My brain noticed certain other features of his like how he didn't have his sweatshirt on, and his shirt was slightly wet, probably from the water or the sweat, but we don't have to go over the previously discussed nature of my traitorous brain.

His gaze shifted slightly at the sound of my door opening. Instantly his eyes expanded to the size of saucers in shock, definitely mortified by who he thinks he had slept with.

"We didn't…" At least not all the way.

The features on his face relaxed, he let out a pretty audible sigh of relief. Was he really that offended at the thought that he slept with the mudblood?

"Good, that would have caused quite the scandal." He replied. Maybe Harry was right about him turning over a new leaf, but my hatred didn't reduce at all, especially not after what he did last night. I felt the heat creep back into my face, hopefully from anger. But now wasn't a time for that, we had some more stuff to sort out before we can go full on gladiator with each other.

He took another sip of water from the bottle in his hand. I remembered the vial in mine, then I held it up to him.

"Hangover potion?"

"Ah, yes… Thanks" He started towards me, but I held up my wand and levitated it to his. He raised a curious eyebrow, but then grabbed the vial wordlessly. He drunk it all in one large sip. I saw the lines on his forehead relax before he turned his face to me expectantly, probably hoping for some answers as to why he's here and how.

"Harry brought you here last night. According to him, you got yourself piss drunk in some muggle bar across town." He raised an eyebrow at me swearing. Yeah Malfoy I swear now, my brain smirked internally.

"Potter. Yeah, it figures."

"Umm… He also told me about… what happened with… with… why you're in witness protection." His face darkened slightly. I didn't know how to approach the subject. Even though I partially knew how he was feeling right now, it's pretty hard to approach this topic from either side, especially when you're the person's enemy and you're not actually trying to hurt him now. I could do that, but I don't sink down to those levels, moral policy. I hate the git's personality, I'm not a sadist.

"Oh… okay." He seemed to ponder on whether or not he should trust me with it, but then the concentration in his face dissipated. I assumed that he is fine with it because he didn't say anything.

"That is not all. They searched Dolohov's mind and found leads to the chase on the rest of their members, so the Aurors are busy with that, including the witness protection team." Realisation dawned on his face. "Harry convinced me to let you stay here, at least for a while." For the second time this morning, his eyes grew as wide as saucers.

"WHAT THE FUCK!"

"I know"

"Why would he?"

"Witne-"

"I know, but why you? Why not someone else?"

"He tried elsewhere, apparently."

"He's lying, obviously."

"I can't say that to his face."

"Well, the sorting hat sure made a mistake when it placed you in Gryffindor."

"Don't test me Malfoy. You've been on the receiving end of my hexes before."

I'm sure my eyes conveyed the anger and irritation I was feeling right now, because he stopped for a second before continuing. "Not that I can't protect myself, but we obviously don't need this in the morning."

"That's one thing we see eye to eye."

"That and the fact that this is an extremely stupid idea." The corner of my lips turned up at that.

"Yeah, that too."

I noticed that we had somehow ended up two feet apart in the middle of the living room. I quickly walked past him to the kitchen counter, making sure to maintain some necessary distance from him. I started gathering the materials for a tuna sandwich.

"So there is no way to get out of this?" He turned around and confirmed.

"I'm afraid so."

"That's a bummer." Wow, we're actually being civil. The realisation left me a little dazed at the two of us.

"Yeah…"

I gathered the tuna from the fridge. "Sandwich?" I ask.

"Let me." He walks over and surprises me by taking the tuna out my hand. My hand may have grazed his. The sensation resounded in my mind, mingling perfectly with the surprise to leave me standing wide eyed in the kitchen, staring at him with my mouth open like a fish out of water.

I expected him to wave his and let the knife do the work, but he actually took the knife in his hands and started cutting out slices from the meat. The sight was something I had never expected from the bigoted arsehole who grew up his whole life with house-elfs doing his bidding.

"Do you… know how to cook?"

"Granger relax, I own a café where I'm the main chef. I think I can manage a few tuna sandwiches." He just keeps the surprises coming doesn't he? Honestly, he was much better than I expected, maybe what Harry said was true?

"You hav-"

_*DING-DONG*_

Who could be here at this time in the morning? The last time I posed a question like this, I ended up here.

"Maybe it's Potter." He stopped cutting.

"Maybe… I'll get it." I walked over to the door and opened it, expecting Harry. Nothing prepared me for what I was going to feel.

I opened the door to a girl with fiery red hair, almost Weasley-like but not quite, and pale skin. She seemed anxious, worried even as she quickly glanced over me before peering into my apartment. Just as I was about to stop her, she let out a gasp.

"DRACO!"

"Laurie?"

She quickly brushed past me, into my kitchen and Malfoy's arms. They hugged for a few minutes while she frantically kissed him all over his face.

"I was so worried when they said they couldn't find you when I visited yesterday. I thought I had lost you too." She swatted him on his shoulder. "Don't scare me like that, ever again."

I felt something grip me in my chest. It was a pain that I don't think I've felt in a while, I couldn't quite put my finger on what it was.

_Jealousy…_

SHUT UP BRAIN!


	5. Laurie

" _Don't scare me like that, ever again."_

I held her tightly in my hands, she must have been really worried because she looked ghastly. Her red hair twisted in every which way, her eyes matching her hair colour with bags around them. Her tears paving rivers through her red cheeks. She was shivering in my arms as she was sobbing. Her dusty jacket reeked of many things, alcohol being one of them. She doesn't drink, so she must have been searching for me with Potter.

"I'm here..."

"I can't… not if both of you…" She started a new wave of sobs into my shoulders. I gently rubbed her back with my hand while the other held her head. Finally starting to relax, she let out a whimpering sigh of relief and closed her eyes as she turned her head to my neck and gave off a small hint of a smile.

I glanced over her shoulder to find a mix of a scowl, surprise, and a hint of something else on Granger's face. I didn't recognise that emotion as I've never seen that on her face, and I'm pretty sure I never saw that on my mirror either.

Before I could decipher what it was, the growl from Laurie's stomach distracted me. She must not have eaten anything at all last night, searching for me. I wanted to finish cooking those tuna sandwiches for Laurie but I remembered the look on Granger's face. She was already pissed that I was here, I'm pretty sure from the look on her face that she won't take Laurie's visit that well. And we all don't want to anger Granger… For Laurie's sake, it'll be hard to take care of Laurie with an angry Granger around… I was being considerate for Laurie,  _not_  Granger.

Deciding to take her to the café so that we could eat and I could comfort her, I led her to the door, grabbing my sweatshirt from the couch, I quickly checked for the keys and my wand before I led her out of the apartment into the hallway.

"Where are you going?" Granger piped up from behind me as we reached the door.

"I'm taking her to the café for a while. I'll be back for lunch."

"I can't authorise that." I made Laurie wait near the staircase and walked back to Granger.

"Granger, I have to take care of her, look at her."

"I said it before I can't authorise that." The insensitive bitch… I thought she was the voice of reason among the terrible trio.

"Granger, I'm in witness protection, not under house arrest."

"But Harry said-"

"Look I know what Potter said, and I know you don't want to let your friend down, but then so do I. She's not in the condition where I can let her go out alone like that." I was starting to get irritated at her.

"Draco, you don't hav-" She started to rise up from her seat as I turned to look at her.

"Laurie, don't… I'm taking you to the café and that's for sure." My voice was grim, and she knew she couldn't change my mind when I took that tone, so she sat back down

"Malfoy, I can't let you out without any protection. Besides, why is your girlfriend so upset about your mothe-"

" _Wait…_ you thought she was my girlfriend…" I started to laugh, both girls staring at me as if I had just kissed a house-elf, on the lips. "Was that why… earlier you were glaring, were you jealous?" I started laughing hysterically. She turned bright red at the statement.

" _WHAT?_  Why the fuck would I be jealous… and for you of all the people in the world? You… bigoted ferret… you're such a pain in the ass… you know what Malfoy, I don't care where you go and with who? Just get out of my sight… you…  _MAN-FERRET_ " She slammed the door shut as I turned out to a tired Laurie starting at me quizzically. I quickly gathered my composure and pieced it back together as I walked over to Laurie and held her hand as I side-along apparated us to the café.

* * *

We landed on our feet in the kitchen, instantly I walked up to the counter and got my emergency snack supplies. There were a few home baked chocolate chip cookies, an energy bar, a bottle of coke and an old sandwich. I handed her the energy bar and the cookies as she sat down on a chair and threw the sandwich in the trash.

"Have the energy bar first, you must be tired from searching for me."

The shop was a bit of a mess, a spoilt cake lay in the corner as I didn't bother disposing anything when I came here earlier. I only grabbed the essentials before I was shipped off to the witness protection home, or the depressing asylum as I call it.

"I'll make French Toast, your favourite." I checked for the ingredients and found enough for a breakfast for one. I noticed the meek nod from Laurie as she bit into the energy bar. The dam of tears reaching its brim once again. I set aside the breakfast, walked back to her and held her tight, motioning for her to let it all out. I wasn't particularly good at this but I knew enough from mother trying to cheer me up that all anyone needed is for someone to hold them. It pained me to think of mother again, especially while holding Laurie, but I knew I had to be strong now, my turn to cry finished last night, now it is Laurie's turn. The tears in her eyes now flowing freely down her cheeks as she brought her wavering hand up to mine.

"She… she… I… I just c-can't… believe t-that she's g-gone."

"She's in a better place now."

"I know… B-But it was s-so sudden… She was j-just there a w-week ago."

"I know… I know…"

"We were p-planning to eat out that night… at that r-restaurant down the street…" Her sobs started with a new vigour as her grip tightened on my sleeve.

"It'll be alright Laurie… We're here for you… I am here, and so are your parents… and Janet, and Emily from class… we're all here for you… even Granger, I'm sure… She wouldn't want you to give your life up…"

She cried into my shoulder as I reached into my pocket and pulled out a necklace, more precisely mother's necklace. A family heirloom she received from her grandmother as a child. She had all charms and spells present on the necklace removed after the war. I brought it back for Laurie after what happened and decided this would be a good time to give to her. Pressing it into her palm, I tilted her head up and kissed her forehead. Laurie stared at the necklace, recognising it as mothers, before erupting into a new wave of sobs as she tried to make me take it instead.

"You can't refuse… I have her ring back in my bag, so keep it." I lied.

She cried for a few minutes before her stomach growled again. She scolded me for letting her get hungry and pushed me to make breakfast again, the pushy side of her revealing a small vestige of the old Laurie, as if to say ' _I'll get better, in time._ ' She gave me a weak smile, and I smiled back, before turning to the French toast.

We remained relatively silent through most of breakfast, a time I passed off as her regrouping time. As we neared the end of our meal, she suddenly broke away from sad reverie and gave me a little smirk, one that I usually feared.

"So… what's up with this Granger girl?" I knew that smirk was trouble. But just this once, I was happy that it was there.

"There's nothing, we have a history of hating each other to the end of the Merlin's pointy hat."

"She's cute, and you guys were shouting something about jealousy and girlfriends?" Not so happy of course, I still feared the damn thing, though I would never admit that to anyone, at any point of time.

"It's nothing…"

"Let me guess, she got jealous because she thought I was your girlfriend." Always has to hit the nail on the head, doesn't she. Why can't she ever get the thumb?

"…"

"Oh wait… you're also going to live with her these next few weeks, aren't you?" I quickly got up from my seat and picked up the food that isn't spoiled yet, I realised the dangers of staying back for a while. Laurie was quite the prankster to those who know her well enough, so good that I'd even compare her to the Weasley twins, put together. She even looked like them… almost.

"Listen, I have to go now… I'm under witness protection." Letting her tease me, I walked over and dumped the dishes in the kitchen before picking up the bags and grabbing my wand to apparate.

"You're fine, aren't you?" I asked her.

"No, but I will be… Don't worry that much… I'm better now thanks to you." She had a smile on that I could believe was real. "Don't mind if I raid the kitchens a little, do you?" I shook my head. "A little. Find me if you need anything else. I'll let you know when I open the café again, I hope they let open it soon." She smiled and I finally decided she was well enough for me to leave her to her devices. I waved my wand and thought of the hallway in front of Granger's apartment.

* * *

I heard voices coming from inside, two women were chatting away pretty loudly as I could hear snippets of their conversation. I could recognise one of the voices as Grangers and I'm positive I heard the other voice more than once before, enough number of times to remember it.

"Malfoy… living… perfect… kiss…"

I smiled as I recognised the owner of the voice, and opened the door.


	6. The Worst Day Ever

" _WHAT? Why the fuck would I be jealous… and for you of all the people in the world? You… bigoted ferret… you're such a pain in the ass… you know what Malfoy, I don't care where you go and with who? Just get out of my sight… you… MAN-FERRET"_

I heard a pop from outside and then I heard a shout coming from nearby. Our shouting and door slamming must've woken them up. Now they would scowl and make angry faces when I crossed them in the hallway. They whipped up quite the glare fest when we made too much noise for Ron's birthday last year. This was all  _his_ fault.

I spent a few more minutes glaring at the door before my stomach reminded me of the uncooked tuna on the kitchen counter. The tuna cut up by  _him._ I walked over to the counter and picked it up the slices of evenly chopped tuna. No point in wasting  _my_ good tuna. I picked up the knife and started cutting the meat into thin slices. The first slice fell next to his slices and immediately I noticed the difference between our slices. On one side there was this perfectly thin and evenly spread out slice of tuna that looked like it could have been cut by precision tools and on the other side we have a mountain range, and it's pretty obvious which one is mine.

I slashed at those perfect slices mocking me and then gave them a happy smirk. What has he done to me? In less than a day, I've gone from the calm and collected bookstore owner to the tuna murderer. I sighed and then placed the tuna aside and brought out the bread from the overhead cupboard and made myself a sandwich.

Breakfast would be a peaceful meal or so Hermione wanted it to be. Just as she placed the first bite in her mouth, someone burst in through the fireplace.

"I came here as fast as I could." Ginny panted out from the smoke.

I stared at her, confused with her statement. "Okay… Why?"

"Harry told me you got a new male roommate, I just came over to check if he's good enough for you." The redhead walked over and grabbed half a sandwich from my plate.

"Ginny, I'm strong enough to kick the guy out if I want to. You don't have to play the Mama Bear."

"Oh I know you can take care of yourself Hermione, I'm only here to find out if you want to have sex with him." Immediately images of Malfoy's tight arse flashed across the theatre of my mind. I hoped I wouldn't blush but the look of awe on Ginny's face told me I probably was. I desperately tried to dissolve my blush, but I'm pretty sure that just aggravated the situation.

"Wow Hermione, you're actually blushing. I don't think I've seen you do that since we left Hogwarts. I came here expecting us to dissect the guy based on abs and chin, but this is completely unexpected, you actually like the guy. Now you absolutely  _have_ to tell me about him." Ginny got off her seat, placed the sandwich aside and moved closer to me, focusing all of her attention on me and my new roommate.

"Ginny, I do NOT like him." Seems like she doesn't know it's Malfoy. Harry did say he was busy. He must have let out a few fleeting words on the subject before apparating off to work.

"Yeah Hermione, tell that to your blushing face."

I looked down at my lap in an attempt to hide my blush.  _Do I really like Malfoy? But that can't be true, I hate him. Maybe that's why I'm so affected by him. Yeah, I'm sure that's the reason. He's an ungrateful little shit of a death eater who gets around with his daddy's money. But the truth is, he isn't all that. The description doesn't fit the current Malfoy at all. Then am I the one living in the past?_

I shifted my gaze back to the smirking redhead in front of me.

"I'm right aren't I? You do like him."

I fidgeted in my seat as I tried to find a reason to deny her statement, but instead I just ended up confirming it. I liked Malfoy. A lot. I like his new attitude and I find him attractive. Given the chance, I would want to sleep with him. And the faster I accept all of these statements, the faster I get to do that. I took a deep breath and answered her.

"Yeah. I do."

"Good, now that we got that out of the way, on to the important stuff. What's his name?"

"Ginny, I'm not telling you his name." It is too soon for me to admit it out loud that the guy I like is Malfoy.

"Come on Hermione, you promised that you would tell me all your gossip."

"Ginny, I promised that you would be the first to know. I never said anything about the stuff I don't intend to tell anyone."

"Come on… Please…"

"No."

"Alright fine. We can circle back to that one later. Now tell me what you like about him."

"Ginny, no." I have to divert her away from this topic.

"Hermione you've got to give me something. I came all the way over here so early in the morning. You know I never get up this early."

"You have a job. You should be waking up this early." Good, the seed has been planted.

"I own a third of the bloody company. If any of the employees have got a problem with my sleeping schedule, I'll have their resignation papers ready." Almost there.

"Ginny, you shouldn't say stuff like that out-"

"I know what you are doing Miss I'm-the-smartest-witch-of-my-time. You aren't getting away from me." Fuck! So close.

Sighing out of exasperation, I nuzzled back into my seat. "He's very tall. When Harry brought him back from the bar last night, he had to slouch down a lot to rest his head on Harry's shoulder. And he has the best arse I've ever seen. That's the first thing I noticed when he entered the building. I was staring at him so much that even your boyfriend noticed."

"The great Hermione Granger was drooling on someone's arse. You even called that Irish guy's arse normal, when that was his best quality."

I had to be careful not to explain something that would give it away that it was Malfoy. I'm pretty sure I'm safe as long as I avoid his hair, eyes and his past. There's no way Ginny would know about the new Malfoy. "You're just overstating stuff."

"No, I'm not. Even Luna agreed with me. Alright so back to your mysterious roommate, what could he have done to make you like him. You wouldn't have just fallen for his arse. You aren't that type of girl. So tell me what happened. What made you fall for him?"

"Last night… In his drunken stupor… He cornered me in the kitchen… and we… we kissed." I could feel myself blushing once again as I remembered the drunken kiss. Oddly enough, his lips tasted like a pleasant mix of strawberries and grapes.

"And?" Ginny crossed her arms and stared at me expectantly.

"And nothing."

"You mean you guys didn't have sex?"

"No…" I felt my brain go into overdrive at the thought of Draco Malfoy and sex.

"This is the first time you meet the guy, he's drunk and defenceless, with the best arse you've seen. He corners you in the kitchen and you guys share a kiss, and The End. You're in love with the guy." Not completely the truth, but she doesn't need to know that.

"I'm not in love with him… I just like him a smidgen."

"Whatever helps you sleep at night."

"And I didn't fall in… in  _like_  with the guy just like that."

"Really, then did something happen in the morning?"

"Nothing. We just woke up, I handed him a hangover potion, he helped make breakfast and then his girlf... his friend showed up and they apparated away somewhere. Then I finished the half made sandwiches and you showed up, uninvited to disturb the peaceful morning between me and my tuna sandwiches."

"So he has a female friend who's overly close with him and he can cook."

"Yeah, he's the owner and the head chef at a café in some muggle neighbourhood." Ginny raised an eyebrow when I mentioned the café. Was it possible?

"Hmm… Hermione, was his mother recently…" Realization dawned on both of our faces simultaneously as one of them was followed by horror and other, surprisingly, by excitement.

"I can't believe your new roommate is Draco Malfoy. Why didn't Harry tell me? The two of you are living together and it all makes perfect sense now. The two of you even kissed." Fuck! How could I let this happen? She wasn't supposed to know, at least not yet. "And the best thing of it all, you like him."

By this point I was fully convinced that the past twenty-four hours had been a complete nightmare, but in reality, this was just a bad dream. It turned into a nightmare when at the precise moment Ginny had finished her sentence, the door opened to reveal a smirking blonde Adonis who goes by the name of Draco fucking Malfoy.

I must be the Queen of Bad Luck.


	7. The Best Day Ever

_I must be the Queen of Bad Luck._

"Hey Red. You haven't come over lately." Malfoy sauntered over to the redhead and gave her a hug as she got up to meet him. I would've jumped out of my seat at the nickname, but I was too preoccupied with my prayers to Merlin that he didn't hear about my 'like' for him.

"I've just been really busy Drake. But more importantly, I'm really sorry about Narcissa. She didn't deserve that."

"Yeah… Thanks…" Malfoy nodded as the pair separated.

I noticed that Malfoy hadn't mentioned it until now. The realisation finally seeped into my brain that he most likely wouldn't have heard our conversation from outside the apartment. With an internal sigh of relief, I turned to the next biggest elephant in the room, Malfoy and Ginny were acting overly familiar.

"How's Laurie takin-"

"GINNY!" I finally got off my arse and walked over to the duo.

"Yes?"

"How… What… When… But… How?" I looked like such an idiot, stuttering as I stared at them open-mouthed.

"Come on Hermione, let's all go back to the couch and I'll explain everything. Merlin knows you've had quite the rough day of realisations so far." That's true, I have had a rough day and I just wish it would end.

"What realisations?" Malfoy asked with an innocent look on his face as the three of us walked back to the couch. I couldn't help but notice how good that expression looked on his beautiful face. I'm pretty sure that if Ginny wasn't here, I would've confessed everything on spot.

"Oh, it's nothing." Ginny waved him off nonchalantly.

"Really, because I'm sure I heard you say something about me, perfect and kiss."

I froze on spot. No. He shouldn't know that, why does he know that? I felt my legs turn into jelly, why the fuck does this keep happening to me? Why won't this shitty day just end already? Why? Why? WHY?

"So you guys were  _realising_  how wonderful my kisses would be?" Malfoy smirked as he sent a wink my way. I'm sure I swooned a little even through all of my freaking out.

"How would you feel if you actually did kiss Hermione?" GINNY!

"Eh-what?"

"Hypothetically speaking, what would you do if you actually did kiss Hermione Granger?" GINNY SHUT UP!

"Umm… I don't know actually. I guess I'll cross that bridge when I get to it." I felt like a puddle on a floor after I let out a sigh of relief. It did bother me that he didn't remember, but I'd already come to terms with that.

"Once again hypothetically speaking, what would you do if I would tell you that Hermione was interested in you?" GINNY, YOU BITCH, SHUT THE FUCK UP! JUST YOU WAIT, I'M GONNA HURT YOU SO B-

"I… I'm pretty sure that won't happen. She hates me too much to do that." Oh. He doesn't know. Well… that's good.

"Why are you asking me these questions?"

"You're going to be her roommate now, I thought I'd just clarify some stuff."

"Oh… yeah… of course. That's reasonable."

"Oh, earlier Hermione was just telling me about how you were living here and then proceeded to tell me about this guy she met a few days ago, about how he looked perfect and was an amazing kisser, but later turned out to be this oblivious idiot who forgot or didn't listen to the most important stuff." Wow, I never knew Ginny was such an amazing liar. I should take lessons from her.

"I'm pretty sure I wouldn't do that to a girl." She's talking about you, idiot. On a side note, I have to divert the two from the topic of me. I've had enough heart attacks for the rest of my life.

"Ginny, you were telling me about how you two met." I pleaded to the redhead with my eyes.

"Yeah, come on. Let's sit and I'll explain."

We finally reached the couch and away from the topic of my love life.

Ginny and Malfoy proceeded to explain how got so close. "It was a few months after the war, and Malfoy had just gotten out of that case about his and his mother's innocence. The one where the ministry took all his money and left him estranged and his mother in house arrest."

"Way to kick me when I'm down Red."

"Oh I'm sorry Drake, and that's when he came and begged me on his knees to hide his shit from the papers." Malfoy pouted adorably. I was tempted to kiss him right then and there, and I would've done so if Ginny wasn't around. I have no clue how I'm going to control myself when she leaves.

"Anyways, I didn't trust him initially. Could you blame me? Even if he was cleared by the Ministry, the first thing I'd suspect would be some foul play with money involved. I mean, it was the great daddy's boy, Draco Malfoy."

"Hey, I wasn't a daddy's boy. He just bought me one broomstick."

"Don't even bother trying, Malfoy. You totally were." I piped in.

"See, even Hermione agrees. And you know the golden rule,  _Hermione Granger is never wrong._ "

"Yeah… whatever." Both of us girls burst out laughing. We were soon joined by Malfoy as well.

"So in order to prove that he isn't trying to get at Harry through me-" Ginny started after we were finally done laughing.

"You actually thought that?"

"Of course I did. You were an arse." Malfoy shrugged. "And stop interrupting me, I have to get to work after this."

"But you said you'd fire-"

"Not you too Hermione."

"She's always like this, isn't she?" Malfoy leaned over towards me. I could smell his intoxicating cologne from where I was sitting. Or was it his natural scent? Either way, I had to catch myself before I succumbed to the temptation and buried my face in his chest.

I turned my head away from him and came face to face with a smirking Ginny Weasley.

"Yeah, she always is. An idiot who pushes everyone around the way she wants to without any concern for their choice in the matter."

"And you are a girl who is always right, except your own love life. Especially your love for one-" I leapt over and tackled the redhead, my right hand covering her mouth as I wrestled her to the ground to keep her silent.

"Wow, wherever I go, I become close to a pair of lesbians." That comment earned him a couch pillow to the face.

"Oh no you don't." The next thing I know, he joined us in our brawl as we all laughed around. The couch pillow ended up between us, one of us was wrestled down, one of my plushie dolls flew across the living room, we all tumbled to the ground, one of us separated and any details beyond that were a blur. We were all laughing, so nobody noticed.

Somehow, by the end of it all I ended up with the blonde on top of me, my arms wrestled to the side by his own.

My vision tunnelled as I noticed everything about the blonde Adonis on top of me. His soft gel-less hair, pointing in every which direction from the couch pillow he took to the face. His warm blueish silver eyes, a different color than the grey I initially thought they were. His chiselled arms and chest making me feel like I want to dive in and wrap myself in their warmth like a thick woollen blanket on a cold winter morning. His rough hands that he could use a knife to cut perfect slices of tuna, grabbed my wrist and that sent my imagination for a spin of all the naughty things they could be doing to me instead. But most of all, I noticed his pale pink lips as they reminded me of the night before, the sweet taste of wine and strawberries still lingering on my tongue, unaffected by the Lasagna and Tuna sandwiches, as I swallowed my saliva so that I wouldn't drool over all the juicy things in front of me. I stopped breathing, dare I inhale and go mental for his intoxicating scent. I tried to wriggle my hands free, to touch him or to avoid the same, I do not know. The attempt lost in vain as he was too strong, or maybe I just didn't try hard enough. Somewhere in the background, there was an explosion, but I didn't care. The sun could have exploded and I wouldn't have given a fuck about it. How did I fall so deliriously in love with this guy in just a day?

For the next few hours, which I'm sure were just mere seconds, we remained in the same spot before Malfoy finally regained his composure and got off of me. The loss of contact left me feeling cold, like I wanted to reach out and bring him back on top of me. But I knew I shouldn't do that, especially not with Ginny in the house. She was there so I had to control my urges. Malfoy got up and offered a hand.

"I… um… I'm sorry. Let me help you up."

I grasped his hand and stood up, giving myself some room so that I wouldn't succumb to the temptation. Such stuff should happen in private, not while Ginny was still… around?

"Where's Ginny?" I swung my head around searching for her.

"I think she left. I did hear someone use the fireplace, and nobody else is around but her, so she must've gone home. She did say something about having to go to work after this." So that was what that explosion was. And if she left, that means I could've…

But now the moment is lost and I've gained my senses back. Fuck!

Wait, if she planned this… Wow Ginny, I'm impressed. I realised there might be more than a few things I could learn from the redhead. Internally, I apologised to her for wasting the chance she got me. But now, back to reality.

"Yeah, that must be it. Even I heard the fireplace."

"Yeah… So… well… ummm… I'm sorry for that."

"Oh it's fine."

"No really. I'm sorry, is there anything I could do to get you to forgive me?" Instantly, I noticed the opportunity, and if I wanted to start learning from Ginny, I had to try stuff myself.

"Well… I guess there is one thing."

"Yeah, what is it?"

"It's been a while since I've gone out for lunch and even though you went out to help your…  _friend_  earlier, I really shouldn't separate from you too much. So take me out for lunch, and there you can tell me how you met Ginny, and what's been happening in your life so far. How life turned out after the war, the café, how's muggle life treating you and how you met your  _friend._  If you want to that is."

"Yeah sure, and you can tell me more about yourself and the bookstore. I already heard a lot of stuff about the Weasleys from Ginny though."

"It's fine, I'll tell you about the bookstore." I'll tell you anything and everything you ask me.

"Sure, we'll leave at two. And after lunch can we go to the café and then to my place, I have to get my clothes and some other stuff. They told me at witness protection that they had finished searching my house for any extra clues."

"Are you sure you're alright enough to step back into that place so soon?"

"I think so. We can always apparate back and I can just buy new clothes and manage with them for a few days."

"Why don't we do that then? You just moved in and it all happened very recently, so why don't we just buy new clothes for a few days and we'll go over to your place sometime next week. When I lost my parents, I was depressed for a long time and I couldn't even set foot in Australia for weeks after that except for their funeral. I'm not saying you aren't tough enough, but let's just take it slow."

He thought about this for a while. I noticed that he looked good while he was lost in thought. Internally I smacked myself, he was thinking about his late mother and how to control his depressing while I was lusting after him.

"Okay, that seems reasonable."

"Alright Malfoy, I'll meet you at two." I started to walk back to my room when he called me back.

"Uhh… H-Hermione… Can I call you that?" I felt like I had a mini-orgasm at that very moment. My name sounded really sexy as it rolled off his tongue. It made me want to walk over to him and suck on it.

"Y-yeah… sure." I stuttered.

"Okay, then call me Draco."

"Yeah, okay D-Draco. We'll meet at two." I turned around and walked back to my room before he could the bright red blush on my cheeks. How badly did I have it for this guy? I can't even say his fucking first name without blushing. No Hermione, we can't have this happening over lunch. I spent the next few hours before two, rectifying and laying ground rules for lunch and shopping, while I got myself ready for our  _date._

I thanked Merlin for this day, and wished it would never end. Now I know how it feels to ride a rollercoaster, something I've never been on because of my fear of heights.


	8. Lunch and Shopping

"And you had no idea whatsoever?"

"Nope, not in the slightest." Taking a gulp from my glass of coke, I observed my old nemesis sitting in front of me. She was laughing at my expense, and I found that I didn't mind it one bit. My younger self would have fought tooth and nail to wipe that expression away, but I've changed since then. No, I've grown up since then. Inwardly I smiled to myself before joining her with a light chuckle.

"Come on, don't lie  _Mal-_ Draco, you're a smart man. Even though I didn't acknowledge it in the past, I've always known your grades to be second only to my own. And you were even better at noticing stuff about people."

"You take every chance to remind me that I was still second, don't you?" The was no harmful intent in that sentence, and judging from Hermione's expression, she understood that as well. It was an old habit.

"Oh come off it you prat, I was just stating a fact. Don't get all high and mighty about it."

"You were the one who started it."

"I did not!"

"You did."

"Did not."

"You did."

"Whatever, weren't we talking about how you hit on your mother's lesbian girlfriend." I was so close. Tilting my head ever so slightly, I shrugged my shoulders in agreement. We had just ordered lunch at the local Pizzeria. Not my first choice to take an attractive woman for lunch, but I had no other choice when my clothes still smelled like last night's party. I did try to wash it off but some of the smell still lingered, leaving me to wonder if I could ever get it off. It was nice that Hermione decided to dress just as fashionably as I did. She wore a green top and some good old fashioned blue denims to go with it.

"Listen, Draco. I'm sorry about… today morning. I understand how hard it must've been for her and I said some stuff I shouldn't have."

"It's alright, but I think you should apologise to her yourself. She has always been close to me even though we had quite the interesting start. And I'm sure you'll be seeing more of her."

"Sure."

We spent the rest of lunch exchanging our pasts. She told me about her bookstore, and the troubles she had faced in bringing her dream to life while I reciprocated with the story of my café and how I got into cooking. We rolled back and forth between our pasts as we tried to match them by the timeline over a large pepperoni cheese burst with an extra layer of cheese on top. All the while I noticed I had never come across a witch who managed to look attractive while shovelling that cheese monster down her throat, but somehow she managed to pull it off. Not even my younger self could argue that she hadn't always been attractive. My hatred mostly stemmed from my own jealousy and the blood prejudice I was brought up with.

By the time we were done with our meal, our stomachs were peeking out of the bottom of our shirts and we weren't in any mood to go shopping for clothes. Both of us needed to rest for a while and I suggested that we head over to the café so that I could show her around and at the same time, throw out all the spoiled food. She agreed and I side-along apparated the two of us to the kitchen of my café.

* * *

"Welcome to the Green Snakes Café."

"Ever the Slytherin, I see."

"Evidently you support us as well." She glanced down at her shirt and then back at me.

"It doesn't mean anything, it's just a shirt."

"Yeah, and I'm sure you had shirts in other colors as well." I started clearing out all the old cakes and pastries from the counter.

She gave me an irritated look before she whipped her face around and marvelled at her surroundings. I smiled at her awed expression, happy that my café could bring about such a nice change to her face.

"The café is amazing Draco. It is very well designed on the inside. It makes me feel… warm and homely. I'd definitely want to come here on a cold winter's morning for some hot cocoa."

"Thank you."

"Although I do think the name should go, snakes are the last thing I'd want in a café."

"That's just the lioness in you talking." Truth to be told, I did feel like the name didn't actually fit, but my past was what brought me here, and it's better than calling it Malfoy's café.

"Anyways, you never told me how you and Ginny became so close. You were explaining stuff but then we got side-tracked and then…" I watched the brunette witch try to hide her blush as she recalled our… tussle from earlier today. It was a good thing she had turned away because I really couldn't stop the pink from flooding my cheeks as well. I honestly didn't imagine we would end up in that situation either. I had jumped at Red like usually do from time to time. We were very close as friends but we were still Malfoy and Weasley, Slytherin and Gryffindor, and that meant we still disagreed on many things. Finding us in a fake brawl isn't as unlikely as one might imagine, and she could actually put up a fight, not that she would ever win. Her experience in Quidditch can be held accountable for that.

But Hermione was different. In my hands she felt somewhat small and fragile, like she was a treasured artifact, even though she could and probably would hex me back and forth between the earth and the moon if she ever heard me call her fragile, and I don't want to face her right hook again either. I rubbed my palms together as I remembered her soft skin and her breasts heaving as she breathed in and out. If it had been almost any other girl, I probably would have kissed her. But this was Hermione Granger and a stolen kiss is not the way to treat a girl like her. That didn't mean I didn't want to, of course.

I realised we had both been silently blushing for a while now.

"Oh… yeah, we actually bonded while I was helping her with something. She came to me to try and get you and some guy back together, who I'm assuming is the Weasel." Hermione whipped her head back and stared at me, her jaw somewhere on the floor.

"She employed you for help… to try and get me and Ron back together?" Hermione quickly sat down on a chair she was standing next to.

"She didn't exactly state who at the time, but it was pretty early after the war and the only person I knew who she would go the length for was probably her own brother. She came clean a few years later. I think she was just upset you two weren't going to be sisters."

"Well she might as well go fuck a hippogriff if she thinks I'm going to put up with a relationship with Ron just so we can call ourselves sisters." Her expressions are very interesting to watch. If someone took a movie of the way her expressions change, I'd buy a copy the cassette and watch it at least once a day for the rest of my life.

"Isn't that too harsh of a sentence for your best friend?"

"My best friend wouldn't try to force me into an incestuous relationship."

I froze on spot. "You and the Weasel are related?"

"No, but that's what it felt like. He was like a brother to me."

"And you reminded him of?"

She glared at me for noticing the words left unsaid but slowly mumbled out her response. "His mother."

I had to hold myself upright by the countertop as I drowned in my laughter. Hermione's glare intensified as I struggled to contain my mirth. It took me a few long moments to calm myself down to the occasional chuckle.

"I actually understand why he must've felt that way."

"Choose your words with extreme care, Malfoy. Ron suffered a week at St. Mungos after that incident."

"I mean no offense, Princess. But back then you did baby… take care of him quite a lot. I'm pretty sure homework was not the only thing you helped him with. You looked after him and so did Mrs. Weasley, and the idiot decided to blow an opportunity with such a lovely witch by blurring the line between the two." Hermione's ears perked up at my compliment and the slightest tint of pink spread across her face. Her irritation dissolved and was replaced by a light smile.

"Are you ready to go? We should head off to the shops now, my clothes reek of alcohol and I think I spilled some sauce on my pants earlier today." I cleared out the last of the spoiled food as I questioned her.

"Yeah, let's get going."

"We'll drop these off at home before we go." I locked the door and held up the bag of bakery supplies and delicacies that were still edible.

"Okay."


	9. Prankster

Unlike every other shopping trip that I've had since the war, I actually enjoyed this trip to the mall with Draco. And it had nothing to do with the fact that Draco is the dress up doll this time. I'm being completely honest. I swear.

Who am I kidding, of course it did. I spent the whole evening forcing Draco to try on every tight-fitting, abs-hugging, orgasm-inducing dress in the shop. And then dragging him to the next shop on that busy shopping street. We should have pissed off the store clerks but most of them were straight women with drool hanging off their chin. I even caught one bold cashier rubbing herself behind the counter. Draco was unsurprisingly less than thrilled at the five-hour long shopping ordeal, but he didn't verbally oppose me.

We fought a few times for the bill but ultimately he only allowed me to pay for one out of the six pairs of shirts and pants we ended up buying. Sometime during the day, he wandered off for a few minutes and came back with an extra shopping bag in his hand, which I can only assume contains a pack of his undergarments. Ultimately, we decided to eat out again as we were both too tired to go back home and cook. As the sky slowly inked itself in darkness, we finally started to make our way home after dinner, deciding to walk back from our local Subway.

"Thank you Draco, for that lovely date."

"Wow, the great Hermione Granger actually thanked me, Draco Malfoy, for something. Alert the Prophet." He wore an expression of shock but it was obvious that he was being sarcastic. I swatted the annoying git on his shoulder and he immediately caught his arm in mock pain.

"Really thou-"

"That wasn't a date, Hermione." I felt my heart drop down to my stomach, did I assume the wrong thing? Did I take it too far? Was I going to get turned down, before I even confessed?

Before I could have an internal breakdown and rethink my life choices, Draco continued. "Having dinner at a fast food restaurant, wearing stinky clothes from the night before and a trip to the mall cannot be called as a date. When I take you on a date, you will know it. You can be sure of that. So no, that wasn't a date. But I did get to spend some quality time with you and I had a good time doing that. Come on, let's get back now. We should get some rest."

As we climbed up the stairs, the only thing I could feel was relief. It wasn't until I reached my bed and lay down in my pyjamas that I realised that his statements didn't confirm that we'll actually have a date. I decided not to push the topic any further for the time being. These first 24 hours have made quite the mess of my usually calm and eventless life. I think that's enough for now.

* * *

It's been a four days since the day I opened my front door to find my best friend and my current roommate and I have to admit, despite his ego and occasional git like tendencies, Draco is a pretty good roommate. But don't ever tell him I said that, wouldn't want to inflate his giant blimp of an ego any further.

Hearing a knock on the front door, I walked over and opened it to find Narcissa Malfoy's girlfriend, Laurie.

"Hi. Hermione right?"

"Yeah, and you must be Laurie."

"It's a pleasure to meet you. So… Is Draco?"

"Yeah, he's here but he is sleeping… Do you want me to… to wake him up?"

"Good, he's sleeping. I wanted to talk to you." The redhead walked past me and sat herself down on my couch. Surprised, I stood by the door for a few more seconds before I closed it and followed her to my couch. Recently, seems like everyone thinks they can just barge into my home whenever they feel like it, and the worst part is that I can't actually deny that statement.

"I know we got off on an awkward note the other night, but I hope we can rectify that. You are Draco's roommate and that means you'll be seeing me, a lot. So I thought we could start over and begin as friends."

"Okay."

"Good, now that we are friends, I have so many things to ask you. But first things first. How is he taking it? Is he alright? Any specific incidents?"

"No incidents. He is doing just fine from what I can see. Though it does get a little awkward when the topic comes up."

"Oh that's alright. Thanks for looking after him. But now enough about that, tell me more about yourself, I've heard a lot about you." Draco talks about me?

"No. But he doesn't really talk about anyone from Hogwarts." Did I say that out loud? Control Hermione. You have to control your mouth.

"Then… then where did you?"

"Cissy… um… she used to talk about… you know… she used to talk about…" I could feel the awkwardness dampen the room once again.

"Hey. You don't have to talk about it. I know it's a little too soon for that." wrapping my arm around her shoulders I moved closer and slowly consoled her. Knowing how hard it must be for her, I tried to make her feel as comfortable as possible.

"No… It's okay… I'm fine." She turned her head away and slowly cried into my arm. My heart swelled with melancholy as I watched her in pain, one that was all too familiar to me. I wiped the tears from her eyes and slowly turned her to face me once again. Our eyes met for a fraction of second and I noticed something different in her eyes, something that didn't belong here. After a few seconds our gaze met once again and this time she held it, and I could still feel as if something was off about this situation.

Suddenly, I noticed that she was closer. Was she leaning in? Was she trying to kiss me? She wouldn't do that, would she? She was just mourning the death of her girlfriend. Technically, Narcissa is her ex-girlfriend, but that's not important right now. She was-… Oh fuck, she is leaning in… What the fuck is happening? How could… But… but…

I saw the expression change upon her face, I know that expression. The Weasley twins always… when they prank… Did Laurie just fucking prank me?!

Her laugh echoed through the living room. She just pranked me.

"You… What… Why… I mean… What the fuck?"

Her laughter just intensified at my sputtering and swearing.

"Couldn't you have left the poor girl alone? Did you really have to be so hard on a first timer?" Draco walked over from his bedroom. How much of that exchange was he there for?

"Draco, I'm sorry but it was too easy. She was right there and utterly defenseless, I couldn't help myself. Also, it was pretty awkward before that and you know how I act during awkward situations." Turning her attention back to me she said. "I'm sorry about that. I generally tend to prank people when I'm in an awkward situation. It's a bad habit, I know, but I can't help it. But yeah, everything else was true. I do want to be your friend, and Cissy was the one told me all about you and everything you did during the war. And from what I can see she was right about you. You're a very smart, beautiful and kind person who cares a lot about people, even if you don't know them very well." I felt a light tinge of pink creep up my cheeks. It felt nice to know that my former enemy who fought against us, for the most part, thought of me as kind and beautiful.

"And she was also right about the fact that you'd be insanely easy to prank." The redhead received stereo glares for that comment.

"Laurie, enough."

"What? It's better for you as well. You can finally say that you aren't the only one I went hard mode on during our first awkward situation." She turned to face me. "He must've told you about the time he confessed his love for me."

"I did not confess my love to you. I merely agreed that I'm fine if you wanted us to date." Draco interjected.

"Potato,  _Potato._ You know that story, don't you?" I nodded my head lightly in response.

"Ever noticed that he never mentioned how that conversation ended? He always stops right after the confession, and he fails to mention what happened after that." Now that I think about it…

"Good, I have so much to tell you, and I promise, I won't prank you. I swear. Come on." She dragged me to my bedroom and we spent a few hours exchanging embarrassing stories about our mutual blonde friend. I figured it would be fine to talk about my Hogwarts days because Narcissa didn't really show up in that as much, while Laurie told me stories about Draco at the café, narrowly avoiding the topic of the blonde matriarch multiple times, but somehow we managed to make it to lunch without another awkward situation. Thank Merlin for that. Draco cooked us a delicious lunch of beef pudding, a bunch of treacle tarts and some leftover cake from the café.

* * *

Ten days ago, I would never have imagined my life to turn out like this. The bully from my childhood days and his mother's girlfriend among the last few people I would've expected to live with me. The latter doesn't actually live with me but, she comes here after class every evening and spends the night here, leaving for her apartment early the next morning for just an hour to freshen up, change and gather the appropriate books for that day's classes. In the evening, the two decided to take slots helping me out at the bookstore. In the evening, Laurie would help out while she finished her projects and assignments. And at night, Draco would help sort, stock and re-shelf the books. In the afternoons, Draco would help out until a while before lunch and then he'd go cook lunch for the two of us. I waited every evening for these intimate moments with him, but I could never muster my famous Gryffindor courage to talk to him about the date or no-date mix up. For now, it remained a mystery still.

The rule that defined our seemingly happy days was to avoid talking about the departed. The two of them could think about her all they wanted but we never really talked about it. Whenever they felt sad, they would walk over to me and I'd give them a hug but that was the extent to which the topic was ventured upon.

Today was the break to our short-lived bout of normalcy. Everything seemed fine in the morning, it was a Sunday, so Laurie woke up late and as the two of us grabbed a mug of coffee each, Draco walked into the room wearing a lost expression. Immediately, we put down our mugs and rushed over to him. We were worried that he was plagued by nightmares again and we didn't want him to revert back to alcohol to solve his problem.

"Draco, are you alright? Did you have a nightmare?" I asked, my hands automatically grabbing his shoulders to comfort him if necessary.

"Yeah… No, I didn't have a nightmare. And I'm fine. Really." He gently removed our worried hands from his shoulders. "It's just… I got an owl, from the Auror Department. It said that they've completed the analysis of her body and they want to know when we wish to conduct the funeral." Draco paused as he let the news sink into Laurie's mind. This would be the first time she'll see her lover's body since before the attack. "And that's not all... They've apparently found some leads to other Rogue Death Eaters. And… from what it seems, they might also have been involved in the attack."


	10. Her

" _Yeah… No, I didn't have a nightmare. And I'm fine. Really." He gently removed our worried hands from his shoulders. "It's just… I got an owl, from the Auror Department. It said that they've completed the analysis of her body and they want to know when we wish to conduct the funeral." Draco paused as he let the news sink into Laurie's mind. This would be the first time she'll see her lover's body since before the attack. "And that's not all... They've apparently found some leads to other Rogue Death Eaters. And… from what it seems, they might also have been involved in the attack."_

The room was enveloped in silence as all eyes fell to the redhead sitting next to Draco. Her own eyes lay frozen as they fixated on the letter, disappointed or disbelieving of it, I do not know.

After what felt like an eternity, Draco broke the spell in this impromptu game of freeze that we were playing, placing his arms around Laurie and drawing her closer into himself, one arm resting across her back while the other slowly stroked her hair. Laurie brought her hands up to his chest, her tiny pale fingers tightly gripped the front of his deep blue polo.

"Laurie?" Draco carefully asked the redhead as she slowly laid her head on to his shirt.

"There's more of them?" Her voice rose barely more than a whisper, but the fear behind it was not hard to see. My heart broke as I saw the bright and cheerful Laurie break down in front of my very own eyes.

Draco and I exchanged a look but neither of us moved to answer her question, because neither of us knew what to say. What were we supposed to say to a woman that only just lost the love of her life to a group of murderers still on the loose? How were we supposed to assure her that any of us are safe? And how were we supposed to tell her that she will get the justice she deserves?

"Draco… Hermione…"

Draco and I gave each other another quick glance before answering simultaneously. "Yes, Laurie."

"Then there are other rogue death eaters out there, just waiting for a chance to kill both of you." She stared at the timepiece on the wall as her head lay still on Draco's chest. She didn't move at all I wasn't even sure if she was breathing.

"Yes bu-"

"Hermione… even she was war trained. But still they…" I couldn't answer her. The tears started flowing down my cheek. I had no answer I could give her. Through my tear filled eyes I saw her start to cry along with me. I reached out and pulled her into myself, both of now fully crying into each other's shoulders. We hugged for what felt like hours, Draco joining us eventually, wrapping his large arms around us in a protective gesture. The three of us didn't speak much for the rest of the day. But unless we had to use the restroom, Laurie made sure that Draco and I were always within her range of sight. Come nightfall we all fell asleep in the same bed, Laurie in the middle with our hands clasped together just to assure her that we weren't going anywhere. This was going to be a long road to recovery.

* * *

The funeral was planned for the following Sunday. On that day, I made sure never to leave the side of Laurie and I also kept Draco within the range of my eyesight. That wasn't necessary as he had the same intentions as I did about our dear redhead.

It was a small service, attended only by Laurie's closest friends from college, Draco's neighbors, some of the regulars at the café and Narcissa's work mates. I also had Harry establish a few undercover Aurors to maintain security. The story of her death had been easy enough to fabricate to the muggles. Since there was no witness to the crime apart from Draco and their neighbors had been out of town that week, the official statement to the muggles was that she died of a cardiac arrest and that she had faced similar problems in the past.

I was suddenly pulled aside by my arm, breaking my train of thought. "How are they doing?" I heard a light whisper.

"Harry, don't do that… They're doing alright. Although she won't let us out of her sight for very long. She's afraid someone will come after us, and we'll face the same fate."

"She won't let you out of her sight as well? Not just Malfoy?" Harry seemed a little surprised.

"We… we became pretty good friends over the past few weeks. Despite her pranks, I actually like her quite a lot. And Draco as well."

"Draco?"

"We're friends. We decided to leave our past behind and start over."

"Wow… I didn't think you two would ever actually be able to do that, and to see it happen so fast." I looked at his eyes and saw that he wasn't being sarcastic, he was genuinely surprised.

"A lot has happened since then, and a lot is happening in his life right now. We just decided that it wasn't worth it."

"Yeah… She really left her mark on this world didn't she. Most people in the magical community do not realize what she has done for the world. Even when the Gamot acquitted her of most of the charges against her, people still believed that she was guilty. Yet without her, we would probably be under the rule of Voldy, in a world devoid of muggles and muggle-borns and  _we_ would be dead." Harry gazed at the coffin with a forlorn countenance. "Truth to be told, I would've come to her funeral even if you hadn't called me, and not because I was the Auror handling this case, or protocol or whatnot, but because I owe her my life for that time in the forest."

We stood together in silence for a few minutes before I saw Laurie looking for me. "Harry, I think I have to go, she's looking for me."

"Yeah, take care. I'll meet up with you soon enough with any new updates. There isn't anything now that you don't already know about." He turned to walk away, but just before he left, I heard him call out to me. "Ginny is on her way here right now. She had to take care of some stuff at the Prophet so the details of the funeral wouldn't get out. She should be here soon."

"Yeah, thanks Harry." And with a smile, he walked out of the building.

I made my way back to Laurie. "Why was Harry here? Is there something wrong? Did something happen?"

I shook my head. "No, no nothing like that. A long time ago during the war, Narcissa saved Harry's life. And he's just here to pay his respects."

Laurie smiled at me lightly. "I am sure she would appreciate it."

Soon Ginny arrived and she stayed around until the end of the funeral service. We buried her in the local graveyard and the four of us stayed around for another half hour changing the epitaph on her gravestone before we left.

_Here lies_

_Narcissa Malfoy nee Black_

_You shall forever be remembered_

_For the love you've shown to your loved ones_

_And the part you've played in history_


	11. The Slip Up

I opened the door and made my way into the back kitchen, the repugnant smell of a month old food waste assaulting my nose as I realize that despite me cleaning the place out the very next day, there was some leftover food that I had missed. I accio'd the cause, a bowl of rotten strawberries and a stale slice of cake. The latter coming from the refrigerator, which means that I'll have to clean that out sometime soon.

I let out a sigh as I realize the amount of work that I will now have to face. Even if I could clean the café and wash the refrigerator with magic, I would still have to manually scrub the place to achieve the level of cleanliness I used to maintain. And then I would have to prepare the different types of flour, the different types of cream, the jelly, at least four flavors of ice cream, and that is just barely cracking the surface. With a light chuckle and a shake of my head I set out to work.

I flipped on the speakers and played a CD of some pop hits collection that Hermione lent to me for the day. Even though I preferred to listen to rock music from The Beatles era, I agreed to at least try out the collection. So far, it was pretty decent.

She also told me she would close the bookstore early and come over to the café to help me out. Laurie also wanted to join but I persuaded her out of it. She has a project submission coming up and I didn't want her grades to fall even lower. She already missed so many classes in the past month.

A jingle broke out of my trance as I noticed Harry Potter standing in the doorway.

"Wow, that is a sight you don't see every day. Draco Malfoy, mopping the floor of a café."

"Times have changed, Potter." I continued with my mopping.

"Yeah, they have, haven't they." He walked over to me and stood against the counter.

"Is there any particular reason you're here? Do you have any news?"

"Nothing much really. Dolohov didn't give us much to go on if I'm being honest. We did manage to capture one of the younger Death Eaters. A nineteen-year-old by the name of Shirley, who actually managed to get us some leads on the whereabouts of some others. She wasn't privy to much information about their plans though. She also went crazy with rage when she saw anyone who was against them in the war, or anyone who switched sides. We had to subdue her with a few potions and then had to use legimency."

"Shirley Lancaster?"

"Yes, do you know her?"

"Yeah, was a Slytherin back at Hogwarts. I remember Pansy mentioning her a few times. Apparently got extremely homesick a bunch of times and her friends had to comfort her a bunch of times. She loved her family a little too much."

"After seeing her like in the rage she was in, I think  _little_  would be an understatement." Harry let out a chuckle.

I set the mop aside as I had finished cleaning the main room. I walked over to one of the bags I got from the store.

"Want something to drink? A Beer?"

"I have to return to duty soon, so I can't have anything alcoholic. Any soft drink is fine if you have it."

I took out a can of coke and a beer. Though the beers were for Hermione, I don't think she would mind if I took one. Hopefully.

I handed him the coke and we both opened our respective drinks. "Potter, I have to ask, why do you keep doin-…" I trailed off as I saw the knowing smile on his face. "You get asked that a lot, huh."

"You wouldn't believe the number if I told you."

"Humor me just this once then."

Both of us stared at each other for a second, before he smiled. "I don't know. I guess it just makes me feel nee-"

"Don't bullshit around, Potter. That might work on Hermione, Weaselbee or maybe even Red if you wanted it enough, but not on me. I spent most of my life bullshitting around and I know when it's staring me right in the face."

He let out a sigh. "I… I feel responsible. And I know, Ginny, Hermione, Ron, everyone has told me many times that I'm not, it's Voldy who did this, not me. But… He was the one responsible for causing their death and I was the one responsible for saving them… and… all of the people I could not save… I feel responsible for not saving them. And I think the best way to make up for that is dedicating my work to the Auror department." He continuously stared at his can of coke, as if the answer to his problems lie there.

"I'm sorry… Potter… I think… one of those times… during one of our famous Quidditch matches… I think… one of us hit the bludger too hard to your head. It seems to have messed up something in there. Are you fucking with me with that logic? No honestly… I can't believe I spent all this time thinking I was fucking losing to you in life when you go around thinking up stuff like this. Both you and Weaselbee seriously cannot do anything without Hermione can you?"

I calmed myself down a little. "Listen to me, Potter. You've been told by all of your friends that your way of thinking is wrong, but now let  _me_ , your arch-nemesis from Hogwarts tell you once again what I've always been telling you. You're a fucking idiot for thinking like that. Now quit your job and do what you've always wanted to do. Now get out of my shop. I've got better things to do with my time."

He sighed and got up, shook his head and walked over to the door. Just before he left, he turned around. "Thank you… Draco."

"No need Potter, I've got enough of those to repay already." He walked out and disapparated from the alley.

* * *

Around four in the evening, Hermione burst in through the doors as I was mixing the flour for the cakes. Mixing the flour was a pretty messy process and I knew I had some on my face. I looked up from the huge bowl of cake flour to find her crouched over, holding her stomach as she desperately tried not to laugh out loud. Our eyes met for a second and then she couldn't hold herself back as she burst out laughing, the hand that earlier on her mouth, now pointing at me. I scowled at her, but not for long. I couldn't do that she looked very adorable like that, her face red from all the laughter.

"Draco… you… you look…" The rest was lost in her laughter.

Before she could continue, I quickly walked over and smeared my flour covered hands all over her face. She tried to resist but it was futile. Within a few short minutes, both of us were laughing and covered in flour.

"Now you do as well."

"You asshole, you got some of it in my hair. Do you know hard it is to get that out? I don't have hair as smooth as silk where it can just slip out easily." Her words might have been harsh but she said this with a smile on her face.

"Hermione, I didn't know you felt my hair while I'm sleeping." I was only joking but the way she blushed left me wondering whether she actually did that. The blush was visible only for a few moments before it disappeared.

"It… I… wasn't talking about your hair in particular. And I never touched your hair… Yeah, I never touched it. Anyway, I came here to help." She swiftly walked by me and stood by the kitchen counter. "So, what am I supposed to do first?"

Deciding to leave it at that, I pointed at the sink. "First, wash your hands. And don't forget to use lots of soap and wash it all out afterwards. Also, tie up your hair so that it doesn't fall in the food."

Hermione walked over to the sink as I cleaned up the mess from our little tussle with a swish of my wand. "Never pegged you as a neat freak."

"Only when it comes to my kitchen and my broomstick."

After she cleaned up, we got to work. We didn't talk much while we were working. I usually like to concentrate when I'm making food or when I'm working with potions, and Hermione was a natural at losing herself in her work. She worked with the eggs and then worked the mixer, while I added them all together and made the batter to be stored in the refrigerator.

* * *

Two hours later, we both took a short break. We both sat down on a table we set up earlier.

"When do you plan to open up the café."

"I'm thinking Monday. Today is Saturday, that means it'll give me tomorrow to leisurely test the new flavor of cheesecakes I wanted to try out, and I can also cook some extra of the regular stuff. As you know, Laurie said she has to submit her project by Monday afternoon. I also have to search for another part-timer. Laurie said she will bring over one of her friends to manage the reception with for a week or so but I need someone to help out in the kitchen. And I obviously need time to search for that. I think this first week will be quite slow, that's why I will have to bake less, like I did when I first set up shop."

"I can-" Before she could continue, we were cut off by the familiar jingle of my door. Both of us turned our heads to find an old woman in her fifties standing by the doorway with a smile on her face.

"Ah, Draco. You're back. How are you feeling, dear? When do you plan to open the shop again?"

I stood up from my seat and smiled at the familiar face. "Mrs. Robinson, I'm alright. And I will be opening up on Monday. Please do visit us again." I turned to my flatmate. "Hermione, this Mrs. Robinson, she lives a few streets over and she's a regular here."

"Mrs. Robinson, this is-"

"No need to explain, Draco." She turned to Hermione. "You look very pretty, dear. He is lucky to have as his girlfriend." Shit. You senile old fool. Hermione, please don't freak out over this. Obviously I wouldn't object to having you as my girlfriend, but I'm sure you would be uncomfortable.

"No Mrs. Robinson, you're mistaken. She's not yet my girlfriend."

Wait a second… Did I just say not  _yet_? I hoped I didn't but the look on Hermione's said it all. Fuck.


	12. The New Mistress in Town (Extra)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THIS IS NOT A PART OF THE MAIN STORY, THIS IS AN EXTRA CHAPTER. THE TIMELINE IS SET BEFORE THE FIRST CHAPTER, SOMEWHERE DURING THOSE 3 YEARS.

It was a very symbolic day for me, for it had been over a year since I had set foot outside this apartment that had turned into home for me and Draco. I was terribly nervous, not that I would be attacked or something as drastic, but because I knew what this moment symbolized. For the first time since I was born, I can finally say that I have tasted the sweet taste of freedom. I breathed in the cool air of suburban muggle London, and let it flow freely through my lungs. If this was what Harry Potter, Dumbledore, and everyone else on the other side of the war fought so hard to achieve, I feel honored to say that I was a part of it.

This was also the first time I could finally be myself. Something I've suppressed for so long that the very thought that I can finally let it out has left me as wanton and horny like a wild beast in heat.

Wearing my best smile, I sauntered my way over to the nearest bar. I've got a lot of time to spend and a lot of women to conquer. My reign has only just begun.

* * *

I swiveled around in my chair, grabbing the drink the bartender had placed on the counter. I took a swift glance at my prey for the night. She was a pretty little thing, a college student in her early twenties. Her long wavy chocolate colored tresses flowed down to the middle of her back. She wasn't wearing anything special, just your regular t-shirt and jeans but they seemed to cling to her skin, accentuating her modest B-cups. But what stood out the most was her tight behind in those skin tight jeans. I just couldn't seem to draw my eyes away from it, and I know I wasn't the only one.

She was fidgeting out on the dance floor. Clearly she did not want to be here, but she couldn't refuse her friends. Her night was not going well, perhaps I could do something to change that fact.

I got up from my seat with the drink in my hands and weaved my way in between the flailing limbs and sweaty bodies of party-hard twenty somethings, making sure not to spill anything. As I grew closer to the brunette, I put on my best game face. One look at my face should tell her that tonight she was going to get ravished and the look on her face as her eyes met mine told me that I had achieved that with perfection.

"Hello gorgeous."

"M-Me… I-I'm… I don't… I-" Ever so slowly I brought my hand up to her cheek. My fingers dancing across her shoulders and then her neck before finally reaching their target. I cupped her cheek lightly as she involuntarily leaned into it. That was all the hint I needed.

"Love, your mouth is saying things that neither of us want. I think I will put a stop to that." I leaned in and ever so slightly grazed her lips with mine. I held them there for a moment, giving her one final chance to back away and leave if she wanted to, but she didn't do anything like that, much to my relief. A few seconds later, she leaned into the kiss and we snogged each other's lips out for many a minute.

The need to catch our breath put an end to our snog-fest. She quickly looked around us, checking to see if anyone noticed the two of us and the passionate moment we shared in the middle of the dance floor, but I knew that nobody noticed us. The wall of drunken student limbs had done a pretty good job of shielding us from any audience, the wall themselves too drunk to notice us.

I quickly tugged on the hand of the blushing angel in my arms, leading her out of the bar and in the direction of my house. Draco is out spending the night with a conquest of his own so I didn't have to worry about his rule for bringing girls home. He did say he would agree, but it's only been two months since my house arrest ended so I didn't want him to feel awkward. Usually I just take them to a hotel I would've booked in advance.

Needless to say I spent most of the night showing her the perks of indulging in the fairer sex. In the morning, I made her coffee and she spent her time curing her hangover and wallowing in her own embarrassment. I comforted her and made sure she understood that she was welcome to spend the night with me again some other time if she wanted to. She blushed even further but ultimately took the piece of paper that held my phone number. We meet up from time to time to have some fun as long as we both weren't in any relationships. Eventually she found a girl she liked and since then we only meet up as old friends.

* * *

I settled myself in the corner seat of Draco's café. Usually this would be occupied but today was apparently a slow day for the café. Christmas was just two days away and most of the regulars were just regular housewives from around the neighborhood, and they left home for the holidays or they were busy with their Christmas party preparations. Draco only insisted on keeping the café open for those ultra-last minute patrons who spend the 23rd running around town buying any gift, tree and party item they could find. So far, that plan seems to be working splendidly.

But what am I doing here? I have no business in the café. My job was to go back and find a publishing agency that would agree to publish my novels. Unfortunately, I cannot do that two days before Christmas. Fortunately, I seem to have a foxy little distraction to keep me occupied. Draco and I do not celebrate Christmas beyond a simple greeting and maybe a hug this year, to celebrate our freedom from all things related to those maniacs. With that out of the way, both of us are free to spend Christmas in whosever bed we want.

Surprisingly, my little redheaded vixen seems to be as interested in this game as I am. She repeatedly bites her lips and makes a pretty big deal out of eating her chocolate covered vanilla ice cream, making sure I see her bite into the strawberry on top. I gulped as I watch her lick her lips every time the chocolate grazes her mouth. I couldn't stand it any longer, I had to have this treat.

Just as I was going in for the kill, a body stood in between us, blocking my view of the wonderful scenery. The offender's body belonged to Draco, my very own son.

"Mother, I was going for her. She will be my Christmas bedmate."

I looked around his body and found my fox's eyes trained on the two of us. She kept switching between glaring at Draco and throwing lustful eyes at me. I gently pushed on Draco's shoulder, motioning for him to look at our person of common interest.

"I'm sorry Draco, it's too late for that. She is already mine."

I walked past my scowling son and offered my hand to the foxy redhead. I lowered my voice to sultry baritone and channeled as much of the dominatrix into my words as I could. "Come with me, my feisty little pet. You seem to be on Santa's naughty list this time. I think you deserve a punishment, if you still want your Christmas present. You want your Christmas present don't you, my pet."

"Yes, mistress."

"Yes, come on now. Let's punish you being the naughty pet you are and then get you a nice Christmas present." Draco was not happy that Christmas. Guess that hug will have to wait for another year.


	13. The Diner

" _No Mrs. Robinson, you're mistaken. She's not yet my girlfriend."_

Did he just say  _yet_? I think he said yet. But did he, really? What am I supposed to do? Think damn it. You're Hermione Fucking Granger. Blanking out is not your style. It never was and you certainly shouldn't start now.

That's it, is my body working properly again? Now let's decide on what to do with that  _yet_. Does it mean he's interested? That day, when Ginny asked him, he did say that he didn't consider it an option because I'm not interested. He did not say anything about his own interest. Right that's it Hermione, it means he could be interested. Should I do something about it?

Whatever it is, I shouldn't do anything about it now. Right now the best thing I can do is leave, and probably pay a visit to the expert.

I kept my head down and quickly made my way out of the building through the back door, ignoring Draco's feeble attempts to apologize Hermione. and the old lady's questions inquiring how she had offended me.

As soon as I was out, I quickly scoured my surroundings for any muggles and then disapparated before Draco could catch up to me.

* * *

Since the Patil twins and Ginny took over the Prophet, the main office has undergone some major renovations. To the outside world it would seem the same, but anyone who enters the building will understand what I mean. The building used to look like the burrow replaced all of the mess inside with paper. The place was always swamped with paper, on the walls, on the floor, and just about every place you could think of. So many experienced witches and wizards in the building and none of them thought to clean the place at least once a day.

The first order of business when Ginny stepped in was to do away with the mess and rearrange the desks in a similar fashion to a muggle news agency. Apparently she was  _inspired_ ,her words, not mine, when she saw one during the tour of the muggle world Harry took her on. For all the chastising her father received from her, she was not much better when she was not in his company.

I entered the building from the apparition area, which was on the ground floor. The rest of the building was blocked from apparition, save for Ginny, Parvati, and Padma's offices. Straight ahead I could see the fireplaces. The Daily Prophet office consisted four floors, one underground floor and three floors above ground.

The ground floor was left open for apparition, fireplaces, reception, the Diagon Alley entrance and the elevators.

On the floor above, Padma manages the Political news column. That floor was the most hectic through most of the year, and is always teeming with Ministry officials and members of the Gamot complaining about the Prophet's publications or attempting, and I heavily stress on that word, to convince Padma to bend the truth in their favor. I prefer to avoid that floor.

Parvati sits on the top floor, and her word in the law when it comes to sports and economics news. That floor is pretty quiet through most of the year, but when Quidditch season comes around, especially if it's the World Cup, that floor publishes nearly half the Prophet every day. All of the members of that floor look like zombies for that entire duration. Just another reason for me to dislike the sport.

I hopped onto the elevator heading down to Ginny's floor. Even though their work isn't as hectic as the floors above, the crème de la crème of the wizarding world have always kept them pretty occupied. It is also the part of the Prophet that has the most number of readers, with gossiping housewives and impressionable young schoolgirls accounting for over seventy percent of those readers.

It was a usual occurrence for me to walk through the halls of the Prophet's main office, nobody questioned me or my intent as they all knew where I was headed and who I would probably meet.

I really hoped Ginny would be free for dinner. I was extremely excited to share this recent development with her but being who I am, I would never force her to skip work for my personal convenience.

With my fingers crossed behind my back, I entered Ginny's cabin. She was sitting in her seat with her elbows on the desk and her head in her hands.

"Hey, Ginny."

Her head jerked around to face mine. She quickly got up from her seat and rushed over to me. Her eyes met mine with a very unusual emotion.

"Gin-"

"Hermione, Harry is quitting."

"Ginny, what do you mean Harry is quitting?" My brain started listing the possible things that Harry could quit. It can't have been the gym. Ginny would never be so distraught over Harry quitting the gym. It can't have been their relationship. No… please don't tell me it's their relationship. It can't be, some part of my brain countered, you don't quit a relationship, you break up. The rest of my brain hoped that was the case.

"Harry is quitting his job as an Auror."

I let out a sigh of relief.

"Hermione, did you hear what I said? Harry is quitting his job as an Auror. Wait, did you already know?" Her brow furrowed in suspicion. Her tone was slightly accusative, questioning me if I had betrayed her by not telling her that her partner in life was unhappy with his job.

"No, no I didn't know Ginny, trust me, this is as much of a surprise to you as it is to me. Probably even more because I don't see him as much as you do."

She glared me down for another few seconds before she accepted my statement as truthful and continued on. "But why? Why would he want to quit and why now? Didn't he always tell us that he was happy doing what he was?"

As Ginny's voice rose, I saw that her outburst was slowly gathering a little audience outside. Most of what she said was silent enough that nobody could hear it, and her room does have spells to block the usage of the Extended-Ears that her brothers patented and all such related products. But still, it wasn't safe. The Prophet might be the wizarding public's most trusted gossip channel, but it wasn't the only one available.

"Not here Ginny. Come with me, let's talk elsewhere." We locked up Ginny's office and headed to her personal fireplace. We both chanted the name of my bookstore and disappeared into the flames.

* * *

Both of us walked out of my bookstore and headed over to the local Pizza place, the one I usually frequent on days when I don't feel like cooking after a full day's work at the bookstore. We would probably be sitting here for a while and we both had a lot of things to discuss, though Harry's situation definitely takes the top priority. I made a silent prayer to Merlin that we don't run into Draco in the meantime.

We ordered a large Pizza to share and a plate of breadsticks with a dip on the side and then we got right into our discussion.

"Ginny, what happened? Tell me everything. Start from the beginning."

"There is no beginning or ending. An owl arrived from Harry about an hour ago, telling me that he loves me but he wants to quit being Auror once this mission about Narcissa is over. It doesn't say anything about what or why but it just says that he'll explain later, once he gets home."

"Then that's what he'll do, Ginny. Give him his chance to answer you properly."

"But-"

I reached across the table grabbed her hand. "Ginny, did Harry submit his resignation letter already?"

"No… But-"

"Ginny, he will not quit without telling us, especially you and he will take your interests into consideration before he decides to do anything."

"That isn't a problem, Hermione. If he wants to quit, I won't stop him from doing so. Hell, I didn't even want him to join in the first place, and neither did you or Ron. But I thought he went with it because he really wanted it. But if he's quitting now, right after he properly established himself as an Auror, why does he want to quit? And more importantly why couldn't I, the love of his life, have absolutely no idea about his interests? I always prided myself in my ability to be able to judge people. A skill I've honed to death and back since that whole Chamber of Secrets debacle in my first year, yet I couldn't even detect any sort of premonition about this from Harry." She gripped my hand a bit tighter and stared straight into my eyes. "Hermione, does this mean I'm no good at being Harry's lover? Does this mean I've failed?"

"NO… no, Ginny. Trust me, I've known Harry a little longer than you have and if there's one thing you should know, it's that you can never predict what he's thinking. He'll do a lot of stuff on instinct and even more stuff by keeping secrets. He's quirky in that way and you told me you love that about him. Now listen to your past self and give him a chance to explain once he comes back home tonight. We can talk about what or why after that. You can call me at any time, even if it is three in the night."

Ginny lay silent for a few minutes. I wanted to focus my attention on my worried best friend, but something else captured my attention. It was some person right outside the Pizza place. He had platinum blonde hair. And most importantly, he was walking straight towards the diner. I quickly ducked underneath the table.

"Yeah… You might be right. I think I should give him a chance Herm…" Ginny's words trailed off as she noticed that I had ducked down below. "Hermione what are you…"

"Ginny quick, come down, Draco is coming here."

"Hermione, what happened? Why are you hid-"

"Ginny, come down." Once she joined me, I lowered my voice and continued. "I was helping Draco clean his café and prepare the batter for the food today afternoon, when one of his regulars walked in and mistook me for his girlfriend. Draco told her on impulse that I wasn't his girlfriend  _yet_. And then I rushed out and came over to you because I wanted your help about what to do next to get him to like me." The doorbell chimed and the sound of Draco's heavy footsteps as he strode over to our table. Hopefully that's just my imagination and he hasn't seen us.

"Hey Red, have you seen… Hermione." Fuck, he saw me and in such an embarrassing situation too. Seems like I already used my prayer for the day with Harry and Ginny's relationship.


	14. Their Story (Extra)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THIS IS NOT A PART OF THE MAIN STORY, THIS IS AN EXTRA CHAPTER. THE TIMELINE IS SET BEFORE THE FIRST CHAPTER, SOMEWHERE DURING THOSE 3 YEARS. THIS IS ALSO SET AFTER THE PREVIOUS EXTRA.

"Thank You very much. I promise, I will not disappoint you."

"Good, I will see you on Monday. Don't be late, we've got a lot of work to do. Though it's nice to find a part-timer who is magical, makes both of our jobs much easier. You won't believe how fucking hard it is to come across a witch or a wizard interested in working as a waiter at a café in muggle London." Mr. Malfoy brushed the sweat off of his brow with the back of his flour covered wrist. He was very handsome, but for some reason he did nothing for me. Janet and Emily would probably give their left arm to be with him.

"I understand what you mean. I'm in a muggle college and besides me, there are about four magical students in this college. Four in over fifteen hundred students. And one of our professor is a witch, so we cannot even cheat in our tests. It's horrible."

"Don't worry, I'm sure you'll find a way. You are pretty smart."

"Thanks Mr. Malfoy."

"Laurie, you're older than me by two months. Do not call me Mr. Malfoy." What? He's younger than me? Certainly doesn't seem like it. I thought he was older than me by at least a few years. Janet will definitely be interested now, although I'm not so sure about Emily. She always preferred older men, something about how they are golden and how whisky tastes better the more it ages.

"Alright, Draco. I'll see you on Monday then. I'll be here by four in the evening."

* * *

"One mocha latte to go." I took the money from the customer, a young police officer in his twenties, probably taking a quick break from his patrol for a shot of caffeine. I took the money from his hands and returned the appropriate change, all while dismissing his attempts at catching my attention. Even though he was pretty good looking, I just simply wasn't interested in him.

"Please stand aside while we get your order ready." I flashed him my biggest smile that still said I wasn't interested in him and directed him to the delivery area. I've been here for just over two days and already three guys have tried to ask me out. And one of them was still in high school.

I quickly took the mocha latte from Draco, handed it over to the officer, and then returned to my post by the cash register. I brought one my books over to work because my professors wouldn't let us catch a break even for a day. One of my professors suddenly decided a week of tests were in order just because he felt like it.

The jingle from door broke me out of my trance. I put on what my friends and I call the interview smile and turn to the door. Instantly my smile faltered and I stopped breathing momentarily as I laid my eyes on the most gorgeous woman I've ever seen. I didn't move from my spot as she approached the cash register.

"Draco darling, give me a large of my usual. I'm going to be here for a while."

"What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be working on your book?"

"I am doing that, Draco. A lot of good stories are based on personal experiences."

"You probably have had enough personal experiences to fill over a hundred books."

"Just get me a cup of my usual."

"Yeah, yeah, it's not like I can do much to stop you, can I?" Draco went back to make her cup.

The woman turned her attention to me. It gave me a chance to properly notice her features, the last time I had the chance, I was too busy being awestruck. Although I'm not much better off this time.

She was extremely gorgeous for her age, which I think would probably be in the late thirties or early forties. She was wearing a black dress-shirt and a pair dark blue jeans. As I finished checking her out… Was I really checking her out? I'm not a lesbian. I shouldn't be checking her out, right?

Anyways, as I finished check-… taking in her appearance, my eyes met hers and I noticed her smirk. Oh fuck, she caught me checking her out.

"So darling, you must be Laurie, the new part-timer. I must say, you look very pretty dear." I've heard many older women like my mother's friends compliment my appearance before, but why am I blushing so much right now? Was it her voice? I'm sure it's her voice. I liked her sultry voice.

Suddenly, I remembered that I operate the cash register. I mustered all of my strength and broke out of her trance. "Umm… Ma'am… C-could you repeat your order… and pay the necessary amount?"

The woman stopped whatever she was doing and her lips tightened. Did I do something wrong?

"Draco… Did you not tell Laurie about me?"

I heard Draco whisper a swear. "I forgot…"

"Draco, how could you do this? How could you not tell her about me? About us?" Wait… wait, wait wait… was Draco and this woman… Oh fuck, was I just having inappropriate thoughts about my boss's wi-… girlfr-… partner?

"Don't make it sound so scandalous. Laurie, this is my mother, Narcissa. She's a pretty popular author who writes lesbian sex novels. You'll see her around the café nearly every day, so you'd better get used to her."

Draco's mother… Draco's MOTHER? That sex goddess is Draco's MOTHER? My brain promptly shut down.

Narcissa gave me another stomach-flipping, heart-piercing, panty-wetting smile and then took her coffee from Draco and sauntered over to her seat. For the remainder of her stay, her eyes repeatedly, for some reason I cannot explain, met mine at least a dozen more times. Every time she made sure to smile at me just the way she did before. By the time she left, my panties were definitely going to be soaking wet.

Sometime before Narcissa left, the police officer came back to order a cupcake. Just before he left, he leaned over. "Now I understand why you weren't even a little interested when I was hitting on you. It'd be helpful if you could hold a sign or something that tells us if you were batting for the other team. Us guys don't have to embarrass ourselves by hitting on a dyke and getting rejected in front of our mates." I would've called him a douche and kicked him out but I was frozen by his words. Was I really a lesbian? I stole a glance at Narcissa, then at the police officer and then at Draco. I had my answer.

* * *

"So, Laurie, you've been acting very strange for the past week, ever since you joined that café." Janet took another sip from the bottle of coke. She told she had always had that addiction, since she was pretty young. Her father used to drink it a lot as well, and she just followed in his footsteps.

"Yeah, it's almost as if you're glowing." Emily piped up from the kitchen. She walked back with a packet of chips and some sauce.

"Wait… Is our little Laurie in love?" Janet dragged out the  _love_  long enough to circle the block twice.

"NO… maybe…" I knew my perfect pale complexion would come back to kick me in the arse one day. No point in hiding it when my face is glowing like a red light.

"What?"

"What?"

"Did you just say what I actually think you said? Did she really just say that?"

"I think she did. Even I heard that too."

"Laurie, you'd better not be pranking us like you usually do. This is the first time we've ever heard you say that you're actually interested in someone. DO  _NOT_ RUIN THIS FOR US!"

"Girls I'm the one who's interested in someone. Why-"

"Quiet! Janet's right, do not ruin this for us. I'd better get a calendar and mark this day down in history. The first day we can actually give advice to Laurie about boys and sex and love and everything in between."

"Actually…"

"She said quiet didn't she. Just pipe down while we go get the books. And then we can teach you every single thing we know so that you will feel right at home when you actually do it with him."

"We can even throw in a hands on experience with a strap-on. That way you can get used to the feeling."

I watched as the two of them spent the next fifteen minutes making preparations to teach me all that they think I need to know, especially about sex. Ironically, that is the one thing they do not need to teach me about. I tried to stop them before the prankster side of me kicked in, I genuinely did. But every single time they told me to sit tight and shut up. I'll tell them eventually, right now it's time to enjoy the show.

"Ready Janet?"

"I'm ready Emily. Let's hit the big one first." She picked up the book with SEX written on the cover in huge bold block letters, and it was by far the largest book of them all.

"What's all of this about?" I quickly glanced at the other books, with words like LOVE, BREAKUP, and FRIENDS written on the cover in similar fashion.

"Not important. Just listen."

They spent the next hour and a half talking about sex. Where did they get so much information, I have no idea? I just sat there waiting to pick the right moment to tell them. I almost felt bad for doing this to them. Almost.

"So my dear innocent little virgin Laurie, do you have any questions?"

"Yeah… How do I have sex with a girl?"

"… I'm sorry what did you say?"

"You guys spent an hour and a half telling me how to have sex with a guy. But the person I'm interested in is a woman. So how do I have sex with her?"

The two of them sat there for a moment staring at each other, all while I revelled in their astonishing faces. Serves them right for giving me an extremely graphic (pictures included) in-depth lecture about the anatomy of a body part that I'll probably never have to look at in my lifetime.

"She's pranking us, isn't she?"

"She is… Is she?"

"I'm not."

"She's not…"

"No she's not…"

"Why didn't she tell us sooner?"

"I tried to, but you told me to shut up."

"Oh right, we told her to shut up."

"Why did we tell her to shut up?"

"Because we're idiots."

"Yeah, we're idiots."

"Yeah, you two are idiots." But still love them. Not in that way. "And about this crush of mine. She's an author who writes lesbian erotica. She's extremely sexy, you'll understand once you see her. And what else… Oh yeah, she's Draco's, my boss's mother. So… I now understand what you mean about older people being better, Emily. She's so much more mature than all of these idiots of our age."

"… Yay, I guess…" Emily piped up meekly. Janet just glared at her, and then at me.

* * *

"She was right, you know. That woman is extremely sexy, even though I'm totally straight and definitely interested in Laurie's boss, Draco. He might not be as old as I want him to be, but he's got this mature aura about him."

"Emily shut it. If Laurie gets it together with that woman, you'd be dating one of your best friend's girlfriend's son."

I could just barely hear those two even though they were sitting so close to the cash register.

"Right…" Emily seemed to shudder in her seat. Why was she so creeped out? She's the one that usually gets it on with the oldies, and not even the good looking ones like Narcissa.

"Well, what do you guys think of her?"

"She's beau-" Emily started but Janet cut her off.

"If it doesn't work out between the two of you, give me her number." Wow, that was unexpected.


	15. A Very Pissed Weasley

_"Hey Red, have you seen… Hermione."_

I had slid under the desk on impulse, but I am deeply regretting my decision to do that now. I was not usually like this. I was much braver than this. Hogwarts Hermione would probably laugh her knickers off at the sight of this crouching-beneath-a-table Hermione.

Ginny grabbed my hand and dragged me out from underneath the table. When she got up, she covered the few steps over to Draco. What was she doing?

"Drake, have you seen Harry?"

"Yeah, he was over by the café earlier this evening."

The expression on Ginny's face changed. I think she initially intended to use that as a distraction but Draco's answer clearly came as a surprise to her.

"He was? What was he doing there? And where did he go afterwards? Tell me everything." In a frantic nature, Ginny grabbed Draco by his arms and started shaking him as she questioned him.

Draco grabbed her hands and gently removed them from his arms as he answered her questions. "He just came by to settle stuff between us and also to keep me informed about how the investigation is going. Then we had a drink together as he told me some… things and then he returned to his Auror duty. He didn't mention where exactly he was going for his-"

"What things did he tell you?" Ginny deadpanned.

"Uhh… I don't-"

"Is it about his job? And how he's quitting."

"So he told you."

"HE TOLD YOU BEFORE HE TOLD ME! HE TOLD YOU, HIS FUCKING ARCH-NEMESIS FROM HOGWARTS BEFORE HE TOLD ME, HIS FUCKING GIRLFRIEND! HE'S SO DEAD! AND YOU'RE NEXT, MALFOY!"

Ginny stormed out of the diner before any of us could get a word in edgewise, though I can't exactly blame her that. I would've reacted in about the same way if I was in her situation. All this did for me though, was leave me in conversation that both wanted and didn't want to have at this moment. Deciding to go against my previous action regarding the subject, I mustered up my Gryffindor courage and set foot into uncharted territory.

"Please save me when she comes for me. I don't want to die this young." He feigned an expression of fear. I chuckled at the sight.

"I'm not joking, Hermione. I have a lot of stuff left to do in this world… and I never want to be on the wrong end of any female Weasley's wand." He just,  _only just_ , maybe wasn't feigning it.

I smiled back at him for his comment. Try as I might, I couldn't disagree with his statement.

"So what exactly did Harry say to you about him quitting. By how you said it, it seemed like he said more than just ' _I'm quitting my job'_. What did he tell you?"

Draco motioned for us to sit down in the booth. As we sat, Draco recounted the events that occurred before I showed up at the café that evening. Just as he finished his tale, the owner of the diner, Mrs. Wilson, walked up to us.

"Ms. Granger, I know you are a regular patron here at our place, and as it all went down earlier, you and your boyfriend here probably have a lot to talk about. But it's almost time for dinner and this place will be crowded soon and if you're not ordering anything, we would kindly ask you to leave." It was only then did I recall that there were so many witnesses to the drama that had unfolded in this diner. I blushed lightly at her assumption, grabbed Draco's hand, muttered out an apology to Mrs. Wilson, and then dragged him out of the diner. Once we were outside, I dropped his hand and turned to face him. I was not running away from him this time.

"Hermione, I am so, so sorry about that. People keep making these assumptions that we're together and then I slipped up about the-"

"Did you mean it?"

"What?"

"You said, I'm not your girlfriend  _yet._  Does that mean that you intend to make me your girlfriend some in the future?"

"Well… I… Truth to be told I… can't say I haven't thought about it. You're very beautiful and I'm definitely attracted. But I know you will nev-"

I kissed him. My lust for him got the best of me. I just grabbed his collar, dragged him towards me, stood on the tip of my toes and smashed my lips into his. It was different from the kiss we shared when we first met after the war. This time neither of us were piss drunk and both of us wanted this. He didn't taste of wine, instead he tasted of whipped cream and honey… and of course, strawberries.

I let my hands loose on his hair. And they thoroughly enjoyed the soft, silky tresses they have been aching for, for quite a while now. His own hands were groping me with just as much vigor, which made me quite happy. I wasn't the only one who wanted this.

I broke off our kiss before it got too heated. There was a lot of unresolved sexual tension and intimacy that had been brewing between us and I wasn't about to let it all loose on the street in front our local diner. I grabbed his hand, scoured my surrounding to find that we were alone, and then disapparated to my bedroom.

Once we were back, I leaned in once again to continue, but Draco pulled away. I started to feel a dread creep up my throat. Was I being too presumptuous? Did he really want me?

"Hermione… Are you really okay with this? I mean, I am an ex-Dea-" I've had enough of this bullshit.

"Draco, stop this nonsense and just answer me. Do you want me as your girlfriend?"

"Hermione, but-"

"No buts. Do you want me or not?"

"Yes."

"Good, because I certainly want you to be my boyfriend. Now get over here. You seem to have left something on your lips. Let me lick that off for you."

I was so close to getting my lips back on his, when we heard the front door open. Why. Do. People. Keep. Barging. Into. My. Apartment.

Fuck.


	16. The Bookstore

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: SMUT

" _Good, because I certainly want you to be my boyfriend. Now get over here. You seem to have left something on your lips. Let me lick that off for you."_

Who knew Hermione Granger could be so hot… and horny? And that she was all of that, for me.

Just as I could feel her lips once again, we heard the front door open.

"Hermione. Draco. Are you guys back yet?"

"Laurie." Hermione and I answered simultaneously. Lucky for us, Hermione had left her bedroom door shut. We didn't have to worry about her walking in on us. Though we did have something else to worry about.

"Hermione, I don't think we should tell Laurie about us yet. She's going through some really tough things right now, and I don't want to... to seem like the happy couple in front of her."

"Hmm… I understand. Though, she's pretty good at sniffing out stuff like this. So if we're hiding it from her, we should probably also hide it from everyone else for the time being." Hermione broke off our contact.

"Yeah."

"Good, so we're searching for a book from my store that I forgot in my room."

"Wha-" She pushed me towards her bookshelf. Only Hermione Granger would have a bookshelf in her room when she owns a bookstore right around the corner.

"Laurie! We're in here. In my bedroom."

We heard footsteps rush towards us with increasing volume. The door opened to reveal a slightly frazzled Laurie. Her face was lined with a hint of worry as she stood by door, lightly leaning on the handle.

"The bookstore was closed. And so was the café. And I thought you guys weren't home. I… I got a little worried."

"We were just searching for a few books I misplaced earlier this week. I can't seem to find a copy of  _'The Giant List of Uses of Dragon Dung - Volume III'_."

Wait, there's three books for that? More importantly, why is Hermione reading that? What did I get myself into?

"I think I last saw it by the refrigerator earlier today. It's that big blue one, right?"

"Oh, Thank You so much Laurie. I thought I had lost that one. It's not the cheapest of books and the new volume was a special order by a regular patron. The book provides some of the most amazing…" I let the conversation trail out as the girls walked out to the kitchen. That was one conversation I did not want or need to be a part of.

* * *

I entered Hermione's store and almost immediately I was ambushed by a pair of small hands that wrapped around my neck, pulling me down into a deep, but relatively short kiss.

"What took you so long?"

"There was this customer that just wouldn't leave. She just sat there with her cup of coffee while chatting away on her mobile phone."

"Couldn't you just kick her out?"

"Hermione, I don't own a bookstore. I can't tell her to just fuck off. When a customer walks in, we serve them what they want and then we let them sit in the booth for as long as they want."

"Well then, you can get down there and get to work then. I am in desperate need of your services." She whispered in my ear in a soft, sultry voice. Her hand gently rubbed over the crotch of my jeans, and then slowly moved up and unbuttoned her own.

I gave her a little smirk and took over from her, unzipping her jeans and pulling them down with her panties as I kneel down in front of her. My eyes were level with her neatly shaved dripping center. She took her hands and ran them through my hair as she does so very frequently. She loves my hair, a fact she has expressed in words and otherwise many times since the first night we spent in bed together.

"Draco, please…"

I stick my tongue out and give her pussy a quick lick, eliciting a deep moan from my lover. How long has she been waiting for me? How long has she been fantasizing about this very moment?

"F…Faster…"

Unable to hold myself back anymore, I start licking her pussy with much more fervor. As more of her juices poured out, its sweet intoxicating smell filled my nostrils, leaving me in an aromatic trance of cunnilingus.

"I'm… c-close…"

She gripped my hair even tighter, using it as a means to hold herself up. An action that signaled she was very close to her first orgasm of the day. Though it most certainly will not be her last.

Her orgasm left her quivering as she attempted to stand, her legs collapsing as I moved my hands to her thighs, holding her up. I was grateful that she always put up silencing spells before I reach. Her moans filled the room, the small bookstore causing the sound to appear louder than it actually is.

It took her a good minute to come down from her sexual high, all while I continued to lick slit with the same intensity, drawing out her orgasm to the fullest. Finally, after she was back on earth, standing on her own two feet, I got up from my position.

"Ohh… I've been waiting for that all day…"

"Oh, you're not done yet, Granger." I have a habit of calling her Granger while having sex. It ran off the tongue much easier than Hermione. "We're only just beginning."

I quickly unbuttoned and unzipped my jeans, pulling them down to reveal my 9-inch long, erect and almost painfully hard penis.

"I will never tire of watching this part." She murmured as her eyes were fixated my organ down below. I stepped out of my bunched up jeans and kick them back, causing my member to bounce up and down. Her eyes bobbled with my member, keenly fixated on it.

Both of us were still fully clothed on the upper half of our body, a fact we both agreed should be rectified immediately.

I pull off her blue t-shirt to reveal a light pink lacy bra. I reached behind her to unhook it, but she suddenly shook her head, causing her curls to fly every which way, some hitting my face. I looked down at her questioningly and she brought her right hand up to her chest and unhooked it from the front. I smiled at her as thanks while she removed the garment and threw it behind her, landing by the front door.

She had breasts that were frankly… smaller than average. But that didn't make them any less beautiful. The barely B-cups added to her female charm, whether she herself recognizes it or not. Besides, I was never interested in a woman's tits as much as I was interested in her ass. And believe me, Hermione Granger had one hell of an ass.

Even then, I still loved her breasts, and they deserve to be loved as I love treating them. So I grabbed her left breast and gave it a light squeeze while I leaned in to connect my mouth with her right. Instead, I was stopped by a small hand.

"Granger, your tits need some good loving. Let me have at them." I whined.

"Nope, not until you take off that."

"But-"

"Draco, I've been waiting for your body as much as you have for mine. And it's cruel that you choose to cover yourself up like that when I'm over here standing completely naked." She's so hot when she's angry and naked. And to be honest, I'm only just barely paying attention to her.

After ogling her naked body for another few seconds, I slowly pull off my shirt.

"Happy?" She gives me a wide smile.

I only let her have a second before I lean in once again, devouring her right nipple in my mouth. My tongue starts playing with the hardened nub, causing her to moan in that  _'Oh, so sexy'_  dick hardening fashion. Instead of returning my other hand to her left breast, I slipped it around her waist, hoisting her up into my arms. She crossed her legs around my back and her arms around my neck. I quickly walked over to a wall because I know how she would kill me if I fuck her up against a bookshelf. She's still the know-it-all bookworm bookstore owner, Hermione Granger, even if she is a lioness in bed.

As I finally reached the wall, her hand reached down and gripped my hard member, slowly directing it to molten core. I felt the heat radiate from her pussy just as she paused near the entrance. I gave her a swift kiss on her lips as she nodded. As it had been only a week since we started dating, I still couldn't thrust in with as much force as I wanted to. My dick was probably bigger than almost all of the people she had fucked so far, so she was still getting used to it.

I gently eased it into her as I let her adjust to my size and then slowly increased my pace. She gave a light nod, motioning for me to go faster.

"Oh… Draco, that feels so good."

Her nails gripped my back as one of my hand grabbed her voluptuous ass. I gave it a little shake and then gave it a light slap.

"Oh." I smiled at the little noises she made during sex. She always surprised me on how much more she could captivate me. She already had me wanting her in my bed at every possible moment in the day.

"Draco… g-go faster…"

"This isn't fast enough for you?"

"No… faster." She wore a pout like a little girl. I didn't know whether to find it incredibly hot or down right adorable.

"Oh, you'll see how fast I can go." I picked up the pace and watched as her breasts bounced up and down just under my nose. It's a sight every man should want to see, but nobody but me should get the chance to.

Her moans increased in volume as she closed in on her second climax. I started spanking both her ass cheeks, speeding up her journey to her climax. I held myself back until her orgasm started, her walls closing around my dick and clamping down on it. Her nails raked my back as she came around me.

I couldn't hold myself back anymore. With one last thrust I unloaded myself inside her. I used one hand to hold her up and the other to prop the two of us up against the wall. Several minutes had passed before either of us moved from our position. I let her down in front of me, letting my dick slip out of her as she got down and leaned against the wall behind her.

"Draco…"

"Yes Granger…"

"Is that it?" This woman. I opened my eyes and brought them down to find her staring up at me with a mischievous glint in her eye and a smirk on her lips. That was my patented smirk, how dare she steal it from me. With renewed determination, I answered her with my most seductive smile to date.

"Of course it isn't, Granger. You still have a lot more orgasms due today."

"Oh goody."

* * *

It was a while before we finished having sex. Laurie decided to stay over at Janet and Emily's for the night, a second attempt after a trial session a few days ago had been quite successful. And we had both closed off our respective stores early. So we had the entire apartment to ourselves. Of course, this being Hermione's apartment, we made sure to lock ourselves in Hermione's bedroom. And also set up some easily believable excuse. But so far, we haven't had to use it.

After we fucked against the wall, Hermione spent the last two hours having sex with me in every way we could. She spent the time against her desk at the store, on the floor with me on top of her, on her knees giving me a blowjob, on her bed below me, on top of me on her bed and in my most favorite position of them all, doggy-style.

All of that led to the situation we are in right now, lying on her bed resting naked as we recovered from our exhaustion.

"I honestly can't believe you let us have sex in your bookstore. Being who you are, I thought you were strictly against that sort of thing."

"I know. I disappointed in myself. I can't believe I let my hormones get the best of me like some sexually charged teenager." I started to laugh. She swat my shoulder with a pout on her face.

"Ow."

"Serves you right."

"For what? Not stopping you?"

"Yes."

"Really. You're physically assaulting me because I agreed with you and gave you what you wanted exactly when you wanted it."

"Yes."

"Wow."

"So… You still want to be my boyfriend."

"Are you kidding? Of course I do. A little physical abuse is a tiny price to pay to have amazing sex with such a beautiful woman." Hermione's cheeks blushed a deep red.

"Do you really mean that?"

"Yes." I leaned in and placed a soft kiss on her lips. "Also, back when we were apparating to your bedroom, you forgot your bra by the front door.

Her reaction was instantaneous. She sat up immediately and got out of the bed to search for her missing undergarment and confirm that I was lying. I watched her perfect ass as she leaned over and searched every corner of her bedroom until she realized that I was not lying after all. As she reached for wand to disapparate to the store, I grabbed her hand.

"Hermione, you're naked."

"Oh." She stopped in her tracks. That gave enough time to pull her in for a kiss and drive the thought of her bra out of her mind. It was another hour before she finally had the chance to visit the store and pick up her missing undergarment.


End file.
